Last month, art pop musician Angel Deradoorian announced her sophomore album Find The Sun. Unfortunately, due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, she’s decided to push back the release date from May 22nd to September 18th. To tide eager fans over until then, the former Dirty Projectors member is sharing a beautiful new song today called “Monk’s Robes”.
Compared to the brisk krautrock single she shared last month, “Saturnine Night”, this one is significantly warmer and more serene. Deradoorian sings with a hymnal affect over light acoustic strums and regal piano arpeggios, her vocals eventually layering into a majestic choir that evokes the spiritual energy of the song’s lyrics.
In a statement about the new album, Deradoorian said she was specifically trying to channel the “Indian spirituality on free jazz masters like Pharoah Sanders and Sun Ra.” “Monk’s Robes” definitely leans into those sensibilities, which feel particularly soothing during this intense moment in history.
In the track’s accompanying video, Deradoorian is seen playing peacefully on a rug at the top of a mountain while donning the titular robes. “I’ve heard so many people say ‘I want to escape to the mountain and live alone because life is so f*cking painful sometimes,’” said the artist. “And that’s not really the way to do it either. You need to be isolated, you need to learn about yourself, but you can’t really stay there. You also need to integrate. You need to do both.” Take a deep breath while you watch and listen below.
Vinyl copies of Find The Sun are available for pre-order via ANTI- Records. Sadly, her May run with the legendary Stereolab has been indefinitely postponed, but keep an eye out for rescheduled dates if/when those get announced.
