New York-based singer/songwriter and guitarist Jessica Louise Dye is best known for being the co-founder and frontwoman of acclaimed New York-based surf pop/surf rock outfit and JOVM mainstays High Waisted. Founded back in 2014 by Dye and her bandmate Jono Bernstein (drums), High Waisted has toured across the country both as an opener and as a headliner, with stops at SXSW and Riot Fest.
High Waisted contributed a song inspired by and written about the Eighth Amendment, which was featured on NPR’s More Perfect and 27: The Most Perfect Album alongside a who’s who list of indie artists. They were also featured on a Record Store Day compilation with Lenny Kaye, and fellow JOVM mainstays Atmosphere.
Besides being an acclaimed songwriter and musician, Dye has made a name for herself as a DJ, playing sold out rooms across the — and for throwing some of the city’s wildest themed parties in basements, rooftops and on boats. Just as a party organizer, she has received praise from the likes of NYLON, GQ, Noisey, BrooklynVegan, Consequence, Billboard, Paste and High Times. I’ve been to a couple of the High Waisted at Sea parties and they were they legendary.
2021 sees the High Waisted frontwoman stepping out into the spotlight as a solo artist with her brand new, solo recording project Hello Lightfoot. “I finally had the courage to finish the solo EP I stared nearly ten years ago, after the sudden death of my best friend,” Dye explained through email. “It was a heavy, cathartic process and I am really proud of myself for pushing through the pain to complete it.”
While we await details of the EP, Dye’s debut single as Hello Lightfoot “Twenty-Seven” is a slickly produced, hook-driven, club friendly confection featuring glistening synth arpeggios, thumping beats and a relentless motorik groove. While being a decided sonic departure from her acclaimed work with High Waisted, the song is centered around confessional lyrics delivered with an aching vulnerability informed by lived-in experience of heartbreak, self-doubt and uncertainty.
Directed by Zach Wright and Zack Bass, the accompanying video for “Twenty-Seven” is shot with hazy, candy colored hewed color palette and follows Dye as she navigates Las Vegas with an Elvis impersonator.