William Morris rejected the idea that technological change automatically meant progress. “I believe” he wrote, “the multiplication of machinery will just multiply machinery”. His beliefs that a fairer society could be achieved through engaging with the arts echoes throughout Deradoorian’s (Decisive Pink, Dirty Projectors) new album ‘Ready For Heaven’ set for release on May 9th via Fire Records.
“To talk about self-actualization is one thing, but Deradoorian’s work embodies it” The New York Times
Out today, new single ‘Set Me Free’ is released with accompanying music video. ‘Set Me Free’ is a wonderfully disarming song, simply done. It doesn’t ask more from us than to trust and act on its title; Deradoorian relies on the vocals and classical synth styles which encourages a gentle lullaby to express itself.
‘Ready for Heaven’ deals with heaven and earth, damnation and salvation, and using intelligence against rampant, naked greed. It is a classic forty minute set of inquisitive pop songs, blessed with a lightness of touch and a sharp focus that can’t help but charm the listener. It conjures up some last, faint afterglow of the old belief that an electronic, programmed beat can smash itself – and you – into another, more egalitarian consciousness.
It is a remarkable fact that this bold and open-hearted record is made by one person, working alone. Repeatedly reworking the songs until they were complete is a painstaking process that generated an energy and space where Deradoorian could indulge in the arcana of her artform. “I love the production more than the songwriting. […] In fact, I don’t even feel like a songwriter at times, I feel like someone who is just inspired by so much music. And I want to try it all out! Like Lizzy Mercier Descloux, Mingus, or ESG and Silver Apples, or making weird krautrock and industrial music. I love dub, and Sly and Robbie. I love the productions of those records and the collective energies released by their creators in the studio. It’s just a weird thing to do it by yourself!”
Engaging with past musical glories helps deal with a major theme of this album; the awful nature of the world around us. Deradoorian: “This album is partly about watching humanity erode. It’s about mental struggle, and it’s avowedly anti-capitalist. I mean; would we have all these identity labels we have to live by, if we didn’t live in a capitalist world?”
A lot of the lyrical content deals with the struggle to be a human being in the modern world, and the determination to keep on keeping on. But even when a darker mood informs a track, as with ‘Hell Island’ or ‘Digital Gravestone’, there are arrangements that seduce and hooks that ensnare.
We are dealing with a world where there is too much shit to cut through and where human connections are burnt dry. ‘Ready for Heaven’ is an avowedly human response to the world we find ourselves in, and Deradoorian uses every ounce of her reserves of wit and knowledge to create a source of comfort and solace for the listener. Deradoorian: “There are times where I feel I should be more overt but I think part of being an artist is to leave space for other people. You can reflect on your own experience. And then everything else is up for interpretation.” Amen to that.
LIVE DATES
08 Apr: The Warfield, San Francisco, CA, US*
09 Apr: The Catalyst, Santa Cruz, CA, US*
10 May: 2220 Arts, Los Angeles, CA, US
w/ Darkside
