cARINA rOUND
Deranged To Divine
A succinct and carefully chosen retrospective of Carina Round's best from her impressive 14 year catalog, Deranged To Divine dances along a predetermined tightrope of whispering synths and self-assured lyrics, drifting from one extreme to the next with expert ease.
The beautiful instrumentation and grand thoughts of opening tracks drift toward anxious melodies and lyrics steeped in an unforgiving reality as the retrospective winds through in dreamy opposition to the aptly titled Deranged To Divine.
Perhaps the greatest contrast of the album, and best example of its title, lays in the comparison between those opening tracks and those that close it out. "Backseat" and "Girl And The Ghost" are full of wonder, hope and understanding, wandering beats and dancing melodies to accompany thought-provoking lyrics and clear vocals in search of something; "The Secret Of Drowning" (making its vinyl debut) and the ever popular "For Everything A Reason" ache in their relentless honesty and hollow melodies, a powerful acceptance of life's cruelties over forever heavy and forward moving beats in tracks that refuse to hide from their truths.
Though the album is laden with previously released tracks, newly recorded tracks include the acoustic "Gunshot" that highlights Round's desperate romanticism and barbed vocals as well as an alternate version of "Want More" that's more refined, creating a sense of further withholding in its bitter promise.
Undulating in a careful rhythm, Deranged To Divine offers a gorgeous and generous self-curated retrospective of Carina Round's work, everything from "Message To Apollo" (The First Blood Mystery, 2001) to "Into My Blood" (The Disconnection, 2004), "Come To You" (Slow Motion Addict, 2007), and "Mother's Pride" (Tigermending, 2012). An entrancing grouping of Round's soulful, strong vocals, honest lyrics, and carefully, beautifully arranged instrumentation, Deranged To Divine is not to be taken lightly.