Sade, André 3000 Lead Massive ‘TRA??A’ Benefit Album
by SPIN Staff
Sade. Courtesy Image
Sade, André 3000, Sam Smith, Julien Baker, Clairo, Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy, actor Hunter Schafer and Big Thief’s Adrianne Lenker are among the more than 100 artists who have contributed to TRA??A, the latest benefit album from nonprofit Red Hot. The first song to emerge from the eight-chapter, 46-song collection is a cover of Prince’s “I Would Die 4 U” by his former Revolution bandmates Wendy & Lisa and U.K. vocalist Lauren Auder.
The album also sports contributions from Fleet Foxes, Beverly Glenn-Copeland, Faye Webster, Perfume Genius, Low’s Alan Sparhawk, Laura Jane Grace, Allison Russell, Bartees Strange, Yaya Bey, Sharon Van Etten and many more. Highlights include Sade’s first new song since 2018, “Young Lion” and a 26-minute instrumental from André 3000 titled “Something Is Happening and I May Not Fully Understand But I’m Happy To Stand for the Understanding.”
“It’s hard to impress us with a cover of a Prince song, especially a personal favorite of ours like ‘I Would Die 4 U,’ but Lauren’s voice and vibey sensibilities spoke to us,” Wendy & Lisa say of their collaboration with Auder. “We were happy to lend whatever we could to the project and to Lauren to make the song something special. We’d venture to say that Prince might’ve enjoyed some of the innovation of this version of the song.”
TRA??A was assembled by Dust Reid, who produced Red Hot’s 2014 Arthur Russell tribute album, in tandem with Los Angeles-based artist and activist Massima Bell. After meeting at a video shoot, “we started talking about all the gifts that trans artists have been giving to the world, and wanted to create a Red Hot project that centered and celebrated those gifts,” Reid says. “We hoped to create a narrative that positions trans and non-binary people as leaders in our society insofar as the deep inner work they do to affirm who they are in our current climate. We felt this is something everybody should do. Whether you identify as trans or non-binary or otherwise, if you took the time to explore your gender [and] get in touch with the feeling side of yourself, maybe we would have a future oriented around values of community, collaboration, care and healing.”
The project is structured as “a spiritual journey in eight chapters, a mirror of the original eight-stripe rainbow pride flag,” per organizers. “One thing trans people do all the time is turn grief into possibility,” says Bell, whose home state of Iowa is one of many to prohibit access to gender-affirming care. “Living under the ongoing Western binary system, trans people reveal maps of possibility for everyone. It’s something that we can all learn from — expanding the possibility of human life.”
TRA??A track list:
Chapter I – Womb Of The Soul “Midnight Moon Pool,” Mary Lattimore + Laraaji + MIZU + Jamal Shakeri “You Don’t Know Me,” Devendra Banhart + Blake Mills + Beverly Glenn-Copeland “How Sweet I Roamed,” Jeff Tweedy + claire rousay “Same Train,” Heart Shaped + Christian Lee Hutson
Chapter II – Survival “STAR,” Ana Roxanne + Nsámbu Za Suékama “Please Tell Me,” Lightning Bug “Make ’em Laugh,” Benét + Faye Webster “Get Me Away From Here, I’m Dying,” Julien Baker + Calvin Lauber (feat. SOAK, Quinn Christopherson) “Rumblin’,” Soft R?nin (feat. Frankie Cosmos) “Deeper Understanding,” Hand Habits (feat. Bill Callahan)
Chapter III – Dark Night “Under the Shadow of Another Moon,” Hunter Schafer + Cole Pulice “Blush,” Grouper + Lucy Liyou “Is It Cold in the Water?,” Moses Sumney “Know Who You Are at Every Age,” Anajah + Gary Gunn “Is It Over Now?,” Niecy Blues (feat. Joy Guidry)
Chapter IV – Awakening “Something Is Happening and I May Not Fully Understand But I’m Happy To Stand for the Understanding,” André 3000 “Come Back Different,” Nina Keith (feat. Julie Byrne, Taryn Blake Miller) “Song to the Siren,” Rachika Nayar (feat. Julianna Barwick, Cassandra Croft) “Love Hymn,” Arthur Baker (feat. Pharoah Sanders) “People Are Small / Rapture,” L’Rain + Voices from the NYC Trans Oral History Project
Chapter V – Grief “We’ve Been Through So Much,” Jlin + Moor Mother “My Name,” Kara Jackson + Ahya Simone + Dave Longstreth “Point of Disgust,” Perfume Genius + Alan Sparhawk “In Another Life,” Lomelda + More Eaze “Pink Ponies,” Teddy Geiger + Yaeji “A Survivor’s Guilt,” Yaya Bey
Chapter VI – Acceptance “Just Last Night,” Helado Negro + Eileen Myles “Feel So Different,” Ezra Furman + Sharon Van Etten “Mourning Dove,” Gia Margaret “Feel Better,” Adrianne Lenker “Any Other Way,” Allison Russell + Ahya Simone “Down Where the Valleys Are Low,” Asher White + Eli Winter + Caroline Rose “TM,” Fleet Foxes + Cole Pulice + Lynn Avery “Querube,” AV María + SKY + Belina Rose
Chapter VII – Liberation “Within Without,” Green-House + Kelela “Aaron,” Cassandra Jenkins + Bloomsday + Babehoven “Young Lion,” Sade Adu “You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real),” Moses Sumney + Lyra Pramuk + Sam Smith “Many Ways,” CLARITY (feat. Clairo) “I Feel Free,” Sparkle Division (feat. Pepper MaShay)
Chapter VIII – Reinvention “Get Free,” Nico Georis + KB Brookins “Wolf Like Me,” Bartees Strange + Anjimile + Kara Jackson “Surrender Your Gender,” Laura Jane Grace (feat. Lee Ranaldo, Jayne County, Kathi Wilcox, Jay Dee Daugherty, Am Taylor) “I Would Die 4 U,” Lauren Auder + Wendy & Lisa of the Revolution “Always,” Time Wharp + Elizabeth & Beverly Glenn-Copeland “Ever New,” Sam Smith + Beverly Glenn-Copeland
