“Komodo coming through / Run for your lives / Run for the hills / Don’t close your eyes” sound like a Greek chorus’ foreboding chant in an ancient epic. There’s something about Angel Deradoorian’s voice that feels anachronistic, but it seems like it doesn’t belong in an earthly dimension either. Along with enchanting dulcimer melodies and a stripped down, meditative drum beat, “Komodo” is a song that has reached out from a mystical realm to our ears.
It wouldn’t be a surprise if Deradoorian’s sedative voice sounded familiar. She was a vocalist and bassist in Dirty Projectors and has worked with a slew of other experimental artists, including Flying Lotus and Animal Collective’s Avey Tare. It’s been six years since the release of her last solo work, an EP called Mind Raft, which gives the impression that this upcoming debut album The Expanding Flower Plant is her way of starting again from a clean slate. The record’s first two singles “A Beautiful Woman” and “The Eye” feature intricate instrumental arrangements and adventurous vocals. Her harmonies often feel like a war being waged between a charming dream and a sour nightmare.
On “Komodo”, Deradoorian explains, “I gave myself a lot of freedom to build up to those dynamics or change the parts and have more stops. It ended up sounding pretty cinematic and spacious, which I like.” Indeed, the shifting melodies and mutating vocal layers give the song distinct narrative beats. Through her simple, but sinister incantations, she evokes a real sense of danger regarding this Grendel-like komodo creature. If The Expanding Flower Plant is supposed to serve as “a metaphor for the expansion of consciousness,” then Deradoorian promises to be the conduit between us and other spiritual planes.
The Expanding Flower Planet comes out August 21 on Anticon.
Deradoorian will go on tour with Stereolab’s Laetitia Sadier in September. Check out dates below.
August
28 Queens, NY – Trans Pecos (Record Release Show)
September
11 Brooklyn, NY – Baby’s All Right #
12 Richmond, VA – The Camel #
13 Carrboro, NC – Cat’s Cradle Back Room #
14 Atlanta, GA – Drunken Unicorn #
15 Tallahassee, FL – Club Downunder #
17 Austin, TX – Holy Mountain #
18 Dallas, TX – Three Links #
20 Albuquerque, NM – Sister #
21 Phoenix, AZ – Crescent Ballroom #%
22 Los Angeles, CA – The Echo #
23 San Francisco, CA – Brick & Mortar Music Hall #
25 Portland, OR – Doug Fir Lounge #
26 Seattle, WA – The Vera Project #
29 Minneapolis, MN – Icehouse #
30 Chicago, IL – Schuba’s #
October
01 Detroit, MI – Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit #
03 Philadelphia, PA – Johnny Brenda’s #
# with Laetitia Sadier
% with Destroyer
