Sade’s First New Song in Six Years Included in Sprawling ‘Transa’ Benefit Album Supporting Transgender Awareness
Reclusive pop chanteuse Sade‘s first new song in more than six years will be released in November when her track “Young Lion” appears on the TRAИ?A benefit album from the Red Hot organization. The 46-track concept LP is due out on Nov. 22 and features collaborations between more than 100 artists including: Sam Smith, Laura Jane Grace, Devendra Banhart, Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy, Bartees Strange, Faye Webster, Julien Baker, Moses Sumney, Hunter Schafer, André 3000, Arthur Baker, Fleet Foxes, Teddy Geiger and many more.
Sade has not put out a full-length album since 2010’s Soldier of Love and her most recent singles are a pair of songs from 2018, “Flower of the Universe” from the A Wrinkle in Time movie soundtrack and “The Big Unknown” from the soundtrack to the Steve McQueen-directed drama Widows.
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The New York Times described the vibe of the song — which the singer has dedicated to her son, Izaak, who identifies as a trans man — as featuring a soft piano riff and Sade’s iconic soothing vocals, pointing to lyrics “steeped in empathy and regret.” On it, Sade sings, “Young man, it’s been so heavy for you/ You must have felt so alone… I should have known/ Shine like a sun/ You have everything you need.”
The compilation of new songs, covers and exclusive tracks aims to support trans awareness and features trans, non-binary, genderqueer and cisgender acts. According to a release, the project began to come together in 2021 and marks one of the most ambitious projects ever from the Red Hot non-profit that has raised more than $15 million since 1989 to benefit HIV/AIDS relief and awareness. It is described as “a spiritual journey across 8 chapters and 46 songs, spotlighting the gifts of many of the most daring, imaginative trans and non-binary artists working today alongside contributions and collaborations from allies such as Sade, Sam Smith, André 3000, Clairo, Moses Sumney and many more. It softens the edges of the world we know, and invokes powerful dreams of the futures that might one day thunder from its cracks.”
It continues, “Trans people have always existed, with many different names across time and culture, often as spiritual healers and leaders. As global systems continue to fail humanity and all life on Earth, the journey taken by trans people – and all peoples who have been oppressed – is a blueprint of possibility. May this be a glimpse of our collective liberation, and the light inside all of us.” With more than three-and-a-half hours of music, the project is broken into eight chapters in a reference to the eight stripes on the rainbow pride flag.
Red Hot executive director Dust Reid — who compiled the album with Massima Bell — said the idea was to celebrate all the “gifts that trans artists have been giving to the world… 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.”
Bell, a model and activist who is transgender, told the Times that Sade’s song was a revelation. “It’s amazing to hear a legendary musician like Sade sing about her heartfelt experience as the parent of a trans child,” Bell told the paper. “It’s incredibly powerful.” Reid added that the project was partly inspired by the death of beloved electronic musician/producer Sophie in 2021. “Sophie was a boundary-pushing, generation-defining musician and one of the most important trans artists we’ve ever had,” said Reid.
The collection’s first single, a cover of Prince’s “I Would Die 4 U” from Lauren Auder and former Prince & the Revolution members Wendy & Lisa, is out now. In a statement, Wendy & Lisa said, “It’s hard to impress us with a cover of a Prince song, especially a personal favorite of ours like, ‘I wud die 4 u,’ but Lauren’s voice and vibey sensibilities spoke to us. 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.”
Listen to the song below and see the album announcement and full tracklist.
TRAИ?A tracklist:
Chapter 1 — Womb of the Soul
1. “Midnight Moon Pool” – Mary Lattimore, Laraaji, MIZU and Jamal Shakeri
2. “You Don’t Know Me” – Devendra Banhart, Blake Mills and Beverly Glenn-Copeland
3. “How Sweet I Roamed” – Jeff Tweedy, claire rousay
4. “Same Train” – Heart Shaped and Christian Lee Hutson
Chapter 2 – Survival
5. “STAR” – Ana Roxanne and Nsámbu Za Suékama
6. “Please Tell Me” – Lightning Bug
7. “Make ’em Laugh” – Benét, Faye Webster
8. “Get Me Away From Here, I’m Dying” – Julien Baker and Calvin Lauber feat. SOAK and Quinn Christopherson
9. “Rumblin'” – Soft Rōnin feat. Frankie Cosmos
10. “Deeper Understanding” – Hand Habits feat. Bill Callahan
Chapter 3 – Dark Night
11. “Under the Shadow of Another Moon” – Hunter Schafer and Cole Pulice
12. “Blush” – Grouper and Lucy Liyou
13. “Is It Cold In The Water?” – Moses Sumney
14. “Know Who You Are At Every Age” – Anajah and Gary Gunn
15. “Is It Over Now?” – Niecy Blues feat. Joy Guidry)
Chapter 4 – Awakening
16. “Something Is Happening And I May Not Fully Understand But I’m Happy To Stand For The Understanding” – André 3000
17. “Come Back Different” – Nina Keith feat. Julie Byrne and Taryn Blake Miller
18. “Song To The Siren” – Rachika Nayar feat. Julianna Barwick and Cassandra Croft
19. “Love Hymn” – Arthur Baker feat. Pharoah Sanders
20. “People Are Small / Rapture” – L’Rain feat. Voices from the NYC Trans Oral History Project
Chapter 5- Grief
21. “We’ve Been Through So Much” – Jlin and Moor Mother
22. “My Name” – Kara Jackson, Ahya Simone and Dave Longstreth
23. “Point of Disgust” – Perfume Genius and Low’s Alan Sparhawk
24. “In Another Life” – Lomelda and More Eaze
25. “Pink Ponies” – Teddy Geiger and Yaeji
26. “A Survivor’s Guilt” – Yaya Bey
Chapter 6 – Acceptance
27. “Just Last Night” – Helado Negro and Eileen Myles
28. “Feel So Different” – Ezra Furman and Sharon Van Etten
29. “Mourning Dove” – Gia Margaret
30. “Feel Better” – Adrianne Lenker
31. “Any Other Way” – Allison Russell and Ahya Simone
32. “Down Where The Valleys Are Low” – Asher White, Eli Winter and Caroline Rose
33. “TM” – Fleet Foxes, Cole Pulice and Lynn Avery
34. “Querube” – AV María, SKY and Belina Rose
Chapter 7 – Liberation
35. “Within Without” – Green-House and Kelela
36. “Aaron” – Cassandra Jenkins, Bloomsday and Babehoven
37. “Young Lion” – Sade Adu
38. “You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)” – Moses Sumney, Lyra Pramuk and Sam Smith
39. “Many Ways” – CLARITY feat. Clairo
Chapter 8 – Reinvention
40. “I Feel Free” – Sparkle Division feat. Pepper MaShay
41. “Get Free” – Nico Georis, KB Brookins
42. “Wolf Like Me” – Bartees Strange, Anjimile, Kara Jackson
43. “Surrender Your Gender” – Laura Jane Grace feat. Lee Ranaldo, Jayne County, Kathi Wilcox, Jay Dee Daugherty and Am Taylor
44. “I Would Die 4 U” – Lauren Auder and Wendy & Lisa of the Revolution
45. “Always” – Time Wharp, Elizabeth and Beverly Glenn-Copeland
46. “Ever New” – Sam Smith and Beverly Glenn-Copeland
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