First New Sade Song in Years, André 3000, Moses Sumney, and More on New Red Hot Compilation Transa

Dust Reid and Massima Bell, photo by Gabriel Petra

Red Hot Organization has announced the massive new compilation album Transa, which is billed as a “spiritual journey celebrating trans people.” The project includes the first new Sade song in several years, a 30-minute piece by Outkast’s André 3000, Moses Sumney covering SOPHIE, an unearthed Pharoah Sanders track, and dozens of other songs by Fleet Foxes, Yaeji, Perfume Genius, L’Rain, Adrianne Lenker, Sam Smith, Beverly Glenn-Copeland, and Clairo, among others. Transa arrives November 22. Listen to Lauren Auder and Wendy & Lisa’s cover of Prince’s “I Would Die 4 U” below

Transa, stylized as TRAИ?A, is divided into eight chapters: “Womb of the Soul,” “Survival,” “Dark Night,” “Awakening, Grief,” “Acceptance,” “Liberation,” and “Reinvention.” Scattered across those sections are collaborations and cover songs by over 100 artists, including Jeff Tweedy, Grouper, Hunter Schafer, Julien Baker, Laura Jane Grace, Lee Renaldo, Bartees Strange, Devendra Banhart, Faye Webster, Mary Lattimore, Bill Callahan, Yaya Bey, Julie Byrne, Jlin, Low’s Alan Sparhawk, Kara Jackson, Helado Negro, Cassandra Jenkins, and more.

Back in 2021, producers Dust Reid and Massima Bell began conceiving Transa as an album in eight parts to mirror the eight stripes of the rainbow pride flag. Trans and nonbinary musicians were invited to contribute to the album, with Reid and Bell working to connect them with their fellow musical heroes and inspirations.

“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,” said Reid. “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, get in touch with the feeling side of yourself, maybe we would have a future oriented around values of community, collaboration, care, and healing.”

Revisit Pitchfork’s features “Trans Women DJs Are Taking Over the Club” and “The Fight for Queer Nightlife in an Era of Political Violence.”

Transa:

Chapter I: Womb of the Soul
01 Mary Lattimore / Laraaji / Mizu / Jamal Shakeri: “Midnight Moon Pool”
02 Devendra Banhart / Blake Mills / Beverly Glenn-Copeland: “You Don't Know Me”
03 Jeff Tweedy / Claire Rousay: “How Sweet I Roamed”
04 Heart Shaped / Christian Lee Hutson: “Same Train”

Chapter II: Survival
05 Ana Roxanne / Nsámbu Za Suékama: “Star”
06 Lightning Bug: “Please Tell Me”
07 Benét / Faye Webster: “Make ’Em Laugh”
08 Julien Baker / Calvin Lauber: “Get Me Away From Here, I’m Dying”[ft. SOAK and Quinn Christopherson]
09 Soft Rōnin: “Rumblin’” [ft. Frankie Cosmos]
10 Hand Habits: “Deeper Understanding” [ft. Bill Callahan]

Chapter III: Dark Night
11 Hunter Schafer / Cole Pulice: “Under the Shadow of Another Moon”
12 Grouper / Lucy Liyou: “Blush”
13 Moses Sumney: “Is It Cold in the Water?”
14 Anajah / Gary Gunn: “Know Who You Are at Every Age”
15 Niecy Blues: “Is It Over Now?” [ft. Joy Guidry]

Chapter IV: Awakening
16 André 3000: “Something Is Happening And I May Not Fully Understand but I’m Happy to Stand for the Understanding”
17 Nina Keith: “Come Back Different” [ft. Julie Byrne and Taryn Blake Miller]
18 Rachika Nayar: “Song to the Siren” [ft. Julianna Barwick and Cassandra Croft]
19 Arthur Baker: “Love Hymn” [ft. Pharoah Sanders]
20 L’Rain / Voices From the NYC Trans Oral History Project: “People Are Small / Rapture”

Chapter V: Grief
21 Jlin / Moor Mother: “We’ve Been Through So Much”
22 Kara Jackson / Ahya Simone / Dave Longstreth: “My Name”
23 Perfume Genius / Alan Sparhawk: “Point of Disgust”
24 Lomelda / More Eaze: “In Another Life”
25 Teddy Geiger / Yaeji: “Pink Ponies”
26 Yaya Bey: “A Survivor's Guilt”

Chapter VI: Acceptance
27 Helado Negro / Eileen Myles: “Just Last Night”
28 Ezra Furman / Sharon Van Etten: “Feel So Different”
29 Gia Margaret: “Mourning Dove”
30 Adrianne Lenker: “Feel Better”
31 Allison Russell / Ahya Simone: “Any Other Way”
32 Asher White / Eli Winter / Caroline Rose: “Down Where The Valleys Are Low”
33 Fleet Foxes / Cole Pulice / Lynn Avery: “TM”
34 AV María / Sky / Belina Rose: “Querube”

Chapter VII: Liberation
35 Green-House / Kelela: “Within Without”
36 Cassandra Jenkins / Bloomsday / Babehoven: “Aaron”
36 Sade Adu: “Young Lion”
38 Moses Sumney / Lyra Pramuk / Sam Smith: “You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)”
39 Clarity: “Many Ways” [ft. Clairo]
40 Sparkle Division: “I Feel Free” [ft. Pepper MaShay]

Chapter VIII: Reinvention
41 Nico Georis / KB Brookins: “Get Free”
42 Bartees Strange / Anjimile / Kara Jackson: “Wolf Like Me”
43 Laura Jane Grace: “Surrender Your Gender” [ft. Lee Ranaldo, Jayne County, Kathi Wilcox, Jay Dee Daugherty and Am Taylor]
44 Lauren Auder / Wendy & Lisa: “I Would Die 4 U”
45 Time Wharp / Elizabeth / Beverly Glenn-Copeland: “Always”
46 Sam Smith / Beverly Glenn-Copeland: “Ever New”

Originally Appeared on Pitchfork