Ready for Heaven is the latest record by Deradoorian, the mononymous project of Angel Deradoorian, the multi-instrumentalist and songwriter formerly of Dirty Projectors, out May 9 on vinyl, compact disc, and digital through Fire Records. It’s a fiesta of art-pop that embraces the weird while lacking miscalculations, the tight set of nine songs thriving on confidence in its assemblage and a clear vision of when to hit the brakes and when to lay on the gas.
Since leaving Dirty Projectors in 2012, Angel Deradoorian work has grown in scale and assurance. Ready for Heaven’s opener “Storm In My Brain” is art-pop with an ’80s tinge, never going overboard, with its rhythmic energies establishing a tropical undercurrent. “Any Other World” doubles down on the art-pop, bringing Laurie Anderson and Kate Bush to mind, but with a nod to the dancefloor that thankfully avoids trite maneuvers. Instead, it blends ’80s pop-R&B (or art-funk, perhaps) with flashes of the Neue Deutsche Welle.
Deradoorian is fond of programmed beats, but the good news is that she also leans into some primo organic rhythmic heat, as in “No No Yes Yes,” which turns up the dial on the ’80s R&B, and in large part through Deradoorian’s soulful vocal swagger (the temperature rises through the funky bass lines). Notably, the music maintains a disaffected basement dance party groove that’s very appealing.
If Deradoorian draws inspiration from the ’80s, there’s no mistaking the timeframe from whence Ready for Heaven derives. “Digital Gravestone” is as thick and sturdy as the best post-punk, but the cut works up a well-controlled momentum that’s very much of the moment. The guest saxophone by Patrick Shiroishi enhances the contemporary feel by nixing any throwback gestures.
There are a few savvy exceptions. “Set Me Free” is unabashedly pop, pretty but also a little eerie; it could be the credits music for an obscure ’80s giallo. The next track “Golden Teachers” also dishes a VHS-era soundtrack-ish vibe, but the cut is ultimately too unusual in its construction and broad in its instrumentation, combining keyboards, guitar, synths, and effects and more sax from Shiroishi to be confused with anything other than consummate art-pop of the 21st century.
The largely instrumental “Purgatory of Consciousness” takes the tropical aura from the start of the record and magnifies it to suggest a futuristic psychedelic rainforest…on another planet, maybe. “Reigning Down” is a late gem of vibrant layering, as smartly conceived as it is unpredictable. More of Deradoorian’s soulful vocal sass is the icing on the cake. “Hell Island” works up one more slow boil of groove potency for the close of a record that finds Deradoorian at the top of her game and displaying considerable poise throughout.
GRADED ON A CURVE:
A
