Being in the shadow of Twisted is tough. And it sure hurts this album, because despite it being different and good in a vacuum I can't help comparing it to its monumental predecessor. Deranger gives hints to Posford's slow transition towards the Shpongle sound: this one uses slower tempos here and there, and more sounds samples. This is clearest at the end of 8. 1 with its vocal sample and quite slow tempo gives more psych and less party vibes than Twisted, which is a fine choice but one that I enjoy less. 2 changes this and gets the party started. It is a hard track, but it pales in comparison to Twisted's bangers with somewhat gimmicky vocal sampling. 3 is a great track, and shows how good Posford is at making tracks flow into one another. 4 also shows hints of Shpongle, but without all the folk and vocal elements of it. It gets really cool by the 2:30 mark. By 5 I realised the album strongly feels like it has less of an identity than Twisted, because the sound changes up a lot more and the whole lot feels less cohesive in consequence. But the track really has fat moments. 6 is like its Pt.1 on the EP bringing in weirder sounds which (especially the water sample) are sometimes a bit intrusive. Pity because the bassline is super catchy. 7 is perhaps the best track here and could honestly been on Twisted, while 8 continues the vibe but more poorly with some unfortunate sound choices. If I wanted Twisted sounds I'd jam Twisted, if I wanted Shpongle I'd jam Shpongle, but deranger sits at an uncomfortable middle which doesn't quite work for me. Still a 3.65
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