Shovel

Seattle-based Deep Sea Diver dropped this banger on January 7, pairing distortion and the industrial clangor of a drum machine with a bright synth-pop sendoff. Lead vocalist and songwriter, Jessica Dobson, describes the song as “dualistic” and “angular.” It is certainly both of those things, as well as an invitation to dance on the grave of the person, experience, or bad habit we have finally put to rest. Admittedly, it takes some serious work (digging) to get there. We must first confront the desperation and self-doubt that inevitably surfaces when we try to unburden ourselves of what no longer serves us. This can be especially difficult if we have clung on a bit too tightly.

I'm diggin′ for worth

And a burial place

My legs are like pillars

I'm only in the way

Giving up something or someone objectively ‘bad’ for you is not for the faint of heart. It is a process of starving the part of yourself that grew attached to that person or habit, and it often feels like deprivation, not unburdening. And it takes practice. Not responding to a spiteful text after setting a boundary. Not keeping alcohol in the house. Not procrastinating. Whatever.

I have lived with anxiety my whole life. In the past, it expressed itself through compulsive behavior, so the line, “I thought I put you underground / Now I’m not sure of it” is haunting. As a teenager, a new compulsion cropped up—erasing and rewriting my notes and homework to achieve the perfect print—just when I thought I had “buried” the more puerile checking and counting behaviors of my childhood. I had—and to some degree still have to—deal with the underlying issue of tolerating uncertainty to get a better handle on it. My perfectionistic tendencies did not really go away. I had to accept them before I could release some of my old coping mechanisms. Letting go is an ongoing practice, a ritual. Similarly, we must do the work (“Bruised and I'm blistered, and I'll dig 'til my hands fall off”) until we experience a therapeutic breakthrough with a sick bassline at 3:22.

Do not miss the equally intense, feral, and darkly comedic music video, influenced by “[David] Lynch, the Cohen brothers, Nick Cave, and the sweet dance moves of Kate Bush.”

Jones, Abby. "Deep Sea Diver – ‘Shovel.’ Stereogum, 7 Jan. 2025, https://www.stereogum.com/2292192/deep-sea-diver-shovel/music/. Accessed 6 Apr. 2025.