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Angel Deradoorian doesn't like to name-drop. For anyone writing about her, though, it's hard to avoid. While playing bass in acclaimed Brooklyn art-rock group Dirty Projectors, she worked on projects with Björk and David Byrne. She toured with Animal Collective's Avey Tare in his Slasher Flicks project, and she's contributed her distinctive vocal flourishes to music by the Roots, Brandon Flowers and Flying Lotus. But when asked about a dream collaboration with anyone, living or dead, she demurs.
"I think most of them are dead," she says, giggling.
With such a long list of collaborations on her résumé, it's understandable why Deradoorian is adamant to make clear that her first full-length solo album, The Expanding Flower Planet, was done entirely on her own, in a studio space she built herself.
"I'd try not to get down on myself about not producing something everyday that's usable," she says. "It's more about going in there and being free and not a high demand of self—just letting it come to you."
Released in August, the songs on The Expanding Flower Planet are complex, ethereal and urgent. There are hints of Indian raga and looping beats recalling an African drum circle, but everything is tethered by layers of Deradoorian's distinctive vocal acrobatics, which were a key component in the sound of Dirty Projectors. While this is a more subdued effort, there's enough going on to make it seem like there's a small, multinational choral army at work. When asked whom she drew inspiration from, she's once again not completely forthcoming.
"€œFor the lyrics, there'€™s no credit," she says. "€œIt'€™s just how I write. It'€™s my least favorite part of writing. I've always written growing up, but in music, it becomes this daunting task to explain your feelings just in English. I think a lot of people make music because they don'€™t know how to talk about it. Some people can't really operate in this reality, but they'€™re totally aware and present in a completely different realm."
SEE IT: Deradoorian plays Doug Fir Lounge, 830 E Burnside St., with Laetitia Sadier, on Friday, Sept. 25. 9 pm. $12 advance, $14 day of show. 21+.
Willamette Week
