Album Review: Deradoorian - "Ready for Heaven"

Ready for Heaven is Angel Deradoorian's best, immediate, and most creative release yet. It's the closest she has gotten to crafting a pop album, and it's a great pop album at that.

Fire - 2025

Angel Deradoorian used to be a member of acclaimed Dirty Projectors, during the late 2000's and early 2010's (the group's peak years). Since then, she's been quite busy with solo and collaborative efforts. 2014's The Expanding Flower Planet features a colorful organic instrumentation that's quite meditative, while 2020's Find the Sun pushed even further with sharper songwriting and experimentation. 2023's Ticket to Fame attaches Deradoorian to Kate NV, whose stylings compliment one another quite fluidly and was an impressive debut as Decisive Pink. With numerous projects under her belt, she continues to push even further with her latest solo effort, Ready for Heaven. Illustrated with a badass and stunning photo as its album art, Ready for Heaven continues the playful, light side of Deradoorian that was exemplified on Find the Sun and Ticket to Fame. It's by far her most infectious, fun, and accessible record to date and by clocking in at thirty-nine minutes and nine songs, its instant replayability doesn't go unnoticed. The quirky guitars, repeated melodies, and chirpy synths are sharp, memorable, and engaging while all being wrapped around a shadowy and sinister layer that's expectedly marked by Deradoorian herself. You can really feel her joy of experimentation and trying different things on the album and I would compare it to Kate NV's latest album from 2023.

One thing you'll get right off the bat is the emphasis on grooves and approach to sticky chords. It's the first time I would describe a Deradoorian record as danceable. "Storm In My Brain" opens the album with excellent grooves, vocals, and keys as comforting and light as feathers. There's a rawness to her vocal delivery that I love, especially on this track. "Any Other World" swirls the listener with synth layers, tight lines deliveries, backed with percussion treated by bongos. I also enjoy the unexpected creepy vocals dryly citing, "burn it down." "No No Yes Yes" has killer grooves, basslines, bongos, and a slick soul coated vocals that sound like they're directly coming from a soul record from the 60's. "Digital Gravestone" is punky garage rock that sound so in your face that you can smell the smoke coming out of the band's garage and I got to mention how awesome the saxophone is too. "Set Me Free" is a much needed cool down, a dreamy synth ballad that really showcases her range. She can do these in her sleep and they're always executed nicely. It totally reminds me of great ballads from Cate le Bon and this one can go toe to toe with any of them. "Golden Teachers" has a great drum beat that plays along nicely with these fluttering piano keys, slick guitar, some echoing vocal effects and a sax solo to boot.

With every album from Deradoorian comes a super dark, ambient tune that sounds like its coming from a cavernous opening from hell, and "Purgatory of Consciousness" is certainly one of those. "Reigning Down" is a surprisingly dance driven track with these relaying drum machine beats and swirling synths. The electronics sound like they're directly coming out of a retro Donkey Kong game. "Hell Island" closes the album as a remarkable, near six-minute long slow burner that's both dreamy and immersive. Nearly five years after her last solo album, Ready for Heaven is arguably her best, immediate, and most creative release yet. It feels so fresh and effortless that it doesn't even seem like she went away. As a full listening experience for an album in this vein, you really can't go wrong. Maybe some of the grooves, melodies, and hooks are a little repetitive but it doesn't take anything away (if anything, it adds to it). It's the closest Angel Deradoorian has gotten to crafting a pop album, and it's a great pop album at that. It's certainly one of the best albums of the year so far, a record that's joyfully and unabashedly wanting to get stuck in your head.

My Rating: 8 / 10

Favorite Songs: "Storm In My Brain," "Reigning Down," "Any Other World," "No No Yes Yes," "Digital Gravestone," "Set Me Free"