Deep Sea Diver's 'Billboard Heart' emerges from an artistic crisis like a phoenix sporting an electric guitar - a testament to creative rebirth through calculated chaos. Jessica Dobson - the Seattle-based musician whose guitar work has seen her grace stages with The Shins, Beck, and Yeah Yeah Yeahs - found herself in a Los Angeles studio during the summer of 2023, confronting an unexpected artistic crossroads. What started as an ambitious reimagining of Deep Sea Diver's sound would become a lesson in creative destruction and redemption.

"We started collecting ideas for this album in early 2023, and from the start, I wanted to make an album that felt and sounded like we wholeheartedly put art first," Dobson explains. "Art meaning much more experimentation, being un-precious with ideas, embracing imperfections and messiness and pushing myself lyrically into new territory."

The recording process proved more challenging than any previous Deep Sea Diver endeavour. "I'm not sure if I've ever had a truly easy-going experience while making an album, but this one definitely took the cake for the biggest hurdle to get over," Dobson admits. That initial LA session revealed deeper creative blocks: "When we first attempted to record the album, I found that I had become pretty detached from my instincts and felt totally out to sea."

What followed was nothing short of creative demolition - a bold reset that would shape 'Billboard Heart', Deep Sea Diver's fourth album and Sub Pop debut. "We ended up scrapping almost our entire first attempt of the album," Dobson reveals. "I think that going through what felt like a huge failure at the time, truly halted me in my tracks. But I had to go through it in order to reconnect with my instincts and all of the things that keep me open and creative."

Taking inspiration from Nina Simone's philosophy that "freedom is no fear," Dobson returned to basics. "When I came back from LA, it took me a while to figure out what to do next and how to reproach recording many of the songs we had put aside," she reflects. "But once we found our footing, it felt almost effortless to complete the album. That was a true gift."

Working alongside co-producer Andy Park, Dobson discovered magic in imperfection. "I knew we had something when we went back into the studio for the second time, and this time around, I chose to use a lot of demos that I had recorded at my home studio," she shares. "They just had the spark, and I love that this album is a mixture of my recordings and songs that my co-producer Andy Park recorded. It has a depth that feels new to me. There's a lot of first takes that were kept. We didn't beat things into the ground. It feels alive."

'Billboard Heart' pulses with raw vitality across its eleven tracks, from the serrated edges of 'Shovel' to the luminous interplay of 'Let Me Go' - a collaboration with Grammy-winner Madison Cunningham that emerged from spontaneous chemistry. "Madison and I just get each other," Dobson explains. "We both grew up in the same county, in similar circumstances, and when we met a few years back, I just knew that it was gonna be a special friendship. We love playing music together and on that song in particular, I love the jangly guitars that feel interwoven and always shaking hands."

The partnership works to both artists' strengths, with Dobson's admiration for her collaborator evident: "She's such an insane guitar player and songwriter, and I'm always learning something from her."

French New Wave cinema permeates the album's visual DNA, with Dobson drawing inspiration from cinematic touchstones. "I really wanted the ['Let Me Go'] video to feel like a lot of the moments in Goddard's 'Breathless' where you're just wandering around the city, and everything feels cool and alive and free spirited," she says. "A lot of the inspiration for the album and the visuals for it came from my love of Wim Wenders, specifically his film Paris, Texas. The album to me feels like open road."

It's 'Tiny Threads' that stands as Dobson's personal highlight. "It has such a strange and beautiful starkness and it leads to a slow build that explodes at the end with a wall of melodic feedback on my guitar," she explains. "I was really trying to channel some of my favourite Yo La Tengo moments. A lot can be said with guitar feedback hanging on a few notes."

Her creative evolution continues to unfold in unexpected directions. "I've been really drawn to writing a lot of instrumental songs on synth lately," she reveals. "I'm a big Tim Hecker fan and I love making ambient tracks that can go from being tranquil to cascading in distortion and disintegrating loops."

Deep Sea Diver are soon to launch their North American tour, with international aspirations brewing. "I want to tour in the UK / EU for the first time! There are plans in the works," Dobson shares. "I want to tour with some of my favourite bands like IDLES or Cate Le Bon or Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds..."

March brings another milestone - Dobson's signature guitar pedal release. "I have a signature guitar pedal that is coming out in March!" she enthuses. "I'm making a lot of demo videos for that and I can't wait for people to get to hear it and play it. It rips! For the rest of 2025, lots of touring and hopefully getting to move into a new home / studio space."

Between tour prep and product launches, Dobson finds grounding in life's simple pleasures. "Today was a good day," she reflects. "I spent time with my band getting songs ready for tour and hanging out with my little beagle." Fair warning to touring companions: "I'm exceptionally good at air hockey, and it's the only thing I get competitive about. I will most likely beat you, then buy you a beer."

'Billboard Heart' emerges not just as Deep Sea Diver's inaugural Sub Pop release, but as a declaration of artistic liberation - where imperfection becomes a strength rather than a weakness. Through embracing uncertainty and creative risk-taking, Dobson delivers her most raw and essential statement to date.