Last Updated on 2025-05-07 by a-indie
Talking About the New Album “Ready For Heaven”
Thoughts Behind the Title
-Yuuki Takita: From here, I’d like to ask about your latest album, “Ready For Heaven.” First, could you tell us the reason and meaning behind the title “Ready For Heaven”? What kind of feelings are reflected in it?
Angel Deradoorian: I would like for people to interpret what ‘Ready for Heaven’ means for themselves. There are many ways it could be read 🙂
On Anti-Capitalism and Humanity’s Decline
-Yuuki Takita: In the album materials, you mentioned, “This album is partly about watching humanity decline. It’s about spiritual struggle and is explicitly anti-capitalist. The identity labels we have wouldn’t exist if we weren’t living in a capitalist world.” I’d be happy if you could elaborate on this.
Angel Deradoorian: I started writing these songs around 2022 after we had gone through the pandemic as a global community. The world started witnessing the seams of society bursting apart and the truth of our human path revealing itself. We have been hanging on to illusions of reality and outdated ways of living on this planet which are now crumbling quickly. It has been painful to see how dissociated we have become as humans, these highly imaginative, creative, and purposeful beings, who have been exposed to poor education, competitive and violent behavior, and false dreams of success. It has created mass isolation and loneliness which is detrimental to our relationship-oriented ways of being. We are living in the illusion of separateness.
Approaching Dub and Post-Punk
-Yuuki Takita: This album features post-punk tracks with dub as the central axis. I was moved by how it sounds like what Talking Heads or Joy Division would have played in the 70s or 80s but with a contemporary sensibility. What ideas or directions guided the creation of this album?
Angel Deradoorian: I am always interested in playing around with whatever inspires me. For this album I wanted the music to be more playful and communicative with how the instrumentation was arranged. I’m always interested in rhythm and melody, but wanted to move into new territory with this album. It felt risky because I didn’t feel as safe making these tracks as I have in the past.
-Yuuki Takita: What aspects were you conscious of regarding the sound production?
Angel Deradoorian: It was whatever showed up when it showed up.
Lyrics and Vocal Expression
-Yuuki Takita: Next, please tell us about the lyrics and vocals. I get the impression that many of the lyrics speak about the struggle of being human in the modern world and the determination to keep moving forward. In contrast, the vocals seem deliberately mechanical. How do you feel about this? Please share anything you were conscious of regarding lyrics and vocals.
Angel Deradoorian: Lyrics are not really my strong point. They come last usually in the writing process. They are somewhat deliberately basic and slightly abstract. I like to leave room for the listener, always, to interpret it in their own way. I’m not sure I understand what you mean by “deliberately mechanical,” but I feel my vocal performances on this album were more expressive than on past albums. I wanted to play around with lots of different ways of singing.
Breakthrough on the Album
-Yuuki Takita: Which song on this album represents a breakthrough for you, or which one do you feel shows the most change or evolution?
Angel Deradoorian: I think the track I’m the most fond of is “Any Other World” because it has captured parts of me as a writer and producer that I haven’t fully realized yet. I think the vocal melody is fun and different for me and the production has lots of tiny magical things happening in it. It has a more playful energy as well which is part of my personality, but might not be readily apparent to others. I think that song will push me to think about writing and arranging music differently in the future.
To Japanese Listeners
-Yuuki Takita: What kind of people would you like to listen to “Ready For Heaven”? Or in what situations would you like it to be heard?
Angel Deradoorian: I would like for all people to listen to it. Once the music is finished and released it is for anyone to hear. The intention with the music is to share information I have learned and for it to be of use for others in a loving and compassionate sense.
-Yuuki Takita: Finally, this article will be read by listeners who saw your live performance during your Japan tour, those who bought your previous albums, and Japanese listeners who are considering listening to your latest album, “Ready For Heaven.” Do you have a message for them?
Angel Deradoorian: I hope you enjoy the music and thank you for your support!
Deradoorian Album Release
Album “Ready For Heaven”
Release Date: May 9, 2025
Tracklist:
1.Storm In My Brain
2.Any Other World
3.No No Yes Yes
4.Digital Gravestone
5.Set Me Free
6.Golden Teachers
7.Purgatory Of Consciousness
8.Reigning Down
9.Hell Island
View on Amazon
Deradoorian Profile
Deradoorian was born on July 18, 1986, and grew up in California, not far from Sacramento. Deradoorian’s parents signed her up for violin lessons when she was just five years old, but she didn’t take to the instrument at that young an age; she fared better with the piano, which she began playing when she was seven. As a teenager, Deradoorian was interested in Radiohead and Elliott Smith, and began exploring the music scene in Berkeley once she was old enough to drive; at 16, she decided she wanted to make music her career. After relocating to Brooklyn, New York, Deradoorian landed her first major gig when she was hired as the touring bassist with the band Dirty Projectors as they hit the road following the release of the 2007 album Rise Above. Deradoorian appeared on Dirty Projectors’ next album, 2009’s Bitte Orca, and that same year she released her first solo EP under the name Deradoorian, a five-song EP called Mind Raft, produced by Dirty Projectors’ leader David Longstreth. Deradoorian was also invited to lend her vocal talents to LP, the 2009 debut album from Discovery, a project founded by Rostam Batmanglij of Vampire Weekend and Wesley Miles of Ra Ra Riot. In addition to making guest appearances on albums by the Roots, Flying Lotus, Matmos, and Brandon Flowers, Deradoorian also joined Avey Tare’s Slasher Flicks, a solo project from one of the members of Animal Collective.
In 2015, Deradoorian released her long-awaited solo album, The Expanding Flower Planet, recorded and co-produced by Kenny Gilmore. Deradoorian guested on albums by Boots, Hamilton Leithauser + Rostam, and Avey Tare. Eternal Recurrence, her second release for Anticon, appeared in 2017. Differing from her previous work, the album was a flowing suite of ambient drone-folk. Following a few digital releases, including 2020’s The Cosmic Garden EP, Deradoorian released third full-length Find the Sun on Anti- Records. Her most collaborative album to date, the album was developed with percussionist Samer Ghadry and multi-instrumentalist Dave Harrington in New York, then recorded in a house on the beach in Marin County, California.(Source: Allmusic)
Writer: Yuuki Takita
A freelance writer born in 1991 and from Tomakomai, Hokkaido. After graduating from the same university as TEAM NACS, he enrolled in a music school and majored in the writer course.
There, he produced three music free papers and conducted interviews with artists and editing.
He used his experience to join a cross-music media company that has free papers and web media, where he wrote and edited review articles and experienced sales.
After resigning, he changed jobs to a clerk at a large record shop and also wrote disk review articles for his own media.
That was the trigger for him to start working as a freelance music writer. He is currently a salaryman and music writer who dreams of holding an outdoor music festival in his hometown Tomakomai.
He likes cats, watching movies, and reading books. Nana Komatsu and curry & biryani exploration are his lifestyle.
You can find the articles he has written so far [here].
You can find the articles he has written for other media [here].
Twitter: [@takita_funky]
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