Sade to release first new song in 6 years on Red Hot Chili Peppers’ TRAИƧA compilation

Non-profit activist and music producer Red Hot has announced TRAÏƧAa new 46-song compilation of both originals and covers that celebrates trans and non-binary people. The full project will be released on November 22, but Red Hot has already released TRAÏƧA’her first single: Prince’s “I Would Die 4 U”, reimagined by Wendy and Lisa from Prince’s band The Revolution alongside London singer Lauren Auder.

The three-and-a-half-hour tracklist is divided into eight chapters, and the project as a whole features over 100 contributing artists. In addition to a new song from Sade Adu called “Young Lion”—her first new song in six years—the compilation includes contributions from André 3000, Jeff Tweedy, Faye Webster, Clairo Beverly Glenn-Copeland, Perfume Genius, Alan Sparhawk, Bartees Strange, Adrianne Lenker, Fleet Foxes, Julien Baker, Sam Smith, Laura Jane Grace, Moses Sumney, Kelela, Kara Jackson, L’Rain, Julie Byrne, Teddy Geiger, Frankie Cosmos, Devandra Banhart, Bill Callahan, Hunter Schafer, Christian Lee Hutson, Sharon Van Etten, Ezra Furman, and dozens more.

The project is led by artists, activists and producers Dust Reid and Massima Bell; in addition to serving as a celebration of trans artists and existence, TRAÏƧA was heavily inspired by the life and work of the late producer SOPHIE, who tragically passed away in 2021. The collaborations and recording sessions took place over a three-year period, featuring reimagined covers, poems and new originals including TRAÏƧA. For her part, Sade had agreed to contribute when Bell sent her a letter thanking the artist for her continued public support of Izaak, Sade’s transgender son – the song serves as a dedication to Izaak and, according to a press release, represents a ““gesture of unconditional acceptance and limitless love.”

“We started talking about all the gifts that trans artists have given the world, and we wanted to create a Red Hot project that would focus on and celebrate those gifts,” Reid said of the album in a statement. “We hoped to create a narrative that positioned trans and non-binary people as leaders in our society as they did the deep inner work to affirm who they are in the current climate. We felt that this was something that everyone should do – whether you identify as trans, non-binary or otherwise, if you took the time to explore your gender, to get in touch with your emotional side, maybe we could have a future that was built around the values ​​of community, collaboration, care and healing.”

Reid and Bell designed TRAÏƧA The project is intended to be a “spiritual experience,” with each chapter taking on the eight-stripe rainbow flag of Pride. Each chapter begins with what Reid and Bell call a “chapter piece,” which serves as a thematic root from which the rest of the chapter’s song branches. Taking its title from Caetano Veloso’s 1972 album of the same name, the project “honors the legacy of those transgender and gender nonconforming artists who created spaces of possibility before awareness of trans identity permeated mainstream consciousness.”

First of all, TRAÏƧA The song “I Would Die 4 U” features Wendy & Lisa and Lauren Auder. The reimagined cover features the same sweeping synths and anthemic yearning as Prince’s original, but with even more enchanting power. In a statement, Auder reflected on the original’s open-ended message of love and care. “The lyrics to ‘I Would Die 4 U’ feel so powerful and open-ended, open to interpretation, but an unconditional message of support and mutual aid shines through,” Auder says, “Having Wendy and Lisa who sang on the original join me on this version has been one of the proudest moments of my musical career and I’m so happy to share that through Red Hot.”

Listen to “I Would Die 4 U” below and scroll down to see the compilation’s extensive tracklist. TRAÏƧA comes out on November 22nd.

TRAÏƧA Work of art:

TRAÏƧA Tracklist:

Chapter I – The Womb of the Soul

01. “Midnight Moon Pool” – Mary Lattimore + Laraaji + MIZU + Jamal Shakeri
02. “You Don’t Know Me” – Devendra Banhart + Blake Mills + Beverly Glenn-Copeland
03. “As I Wandered” – Jeff Tweedy + Claire Rousay
04. “Same Train” – Heart Shaped + Christian Lee Hutson

Chapter II – Survival

05. “STAR” – Ana Roxanne + Nsámbu Za Suékama
06. “Please Tell Me” – Lightning Bug
07. “Make Them Laugh” – Benét + Faye Webster
08. “Get Me Out of Here, I’m Dying” – Julien Baker + Calvin Lauber (with SOAK, Quinn Christopherson)
09. “Rumblin’” – Soft Rōnin (featuring Frankie Cosmos)
10. “Deeper Understanding” – Hand Habits (with Bill Callahan)

Chapter III – The Dark Night

11. “In the Shadow of Another Moon” – Hunter Schafer + Cole Pulice
12. “Blush” – Grouper + Lucy Liyou
13. “Is it cold in the water?” – Moses Sumney
14. “Know Who You Are at Any Age” – Anajah + Gary Gunn
15. “Is It Over Now?” – Niecy Blues (featuring Joy Guidry)

Chapter IV – The Awakening

16. “There is something going on that I may not fully understand, but I am happy to defend that understanding.” – André 3000
17. “Come Back Different” – Nina Keith (with Julie Byrne, Taryn Blake Miller)
18. “Song To The Siren” – Rachika Nayar (with Julianna Barwick, Cassandra Croft)
19. “Love Hymn” – Arthur Baker (with Pharoah Sanders)
20. “People Are Small / Rapture” – L’Rain + Voices from the New York Trans Oral History Project

Chapter V – Mourning

21. “We’ve been through so much” – Jlin + Moor Mother
22. “My Name” – Kara Jackson + Ahya Simone + Dave Longstreth
23. “Point of Disgust” – Perfume Genius + Alan Sparhawk (Low)
24. “In Another Life” – Lomelda + More Eaze
25. “Pink Ponies” – Teddy Geiger + Yaeji
26. “Survivor’s Guilt” – Yaya Bey

Chapter VI – Acceptance

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

Chapter VII – Liberation

35. “Inside, outside” – Green-House + Kelela
36. “Aaron” – Cassandra Jenkins + Bloomsday + Babehoven
37. “The Young Lion” – Sade Adu
38. “You Make Me Feel (Very Real)” – Moses Sumney + Lyra Pramuk + Sam Smith
39. “Many Ways” – CLARITY (featuring Clairo)
40. “I Feel Free” – Sparkle Division (featuring Pepper MaShay)

Chapter VIII – Reinvention

41. “Free Yourself” – Nico Georis + KB Brookins
42. “Wolf Like Me” – Bartees Strange + Anjimile + Kara Jackson
43. “Surrender Your Gender” – Laura Jane Grace (with Lee Ranaldo, Jayne County, Kathi Wilcox, Jay Dee Daugherty, Am Taylor)
44. “I Would Die For You” – Lauren Auder + Wendy & Lisa of The Revolution
45. “Always” – Time Wharp + Elizabeth & Beverly Glenn-Copeland
46. ​​“Always New” – Sam Smith + Beverly Glenn-Copeland