The non-profit activist and music production organization Red Hot has announced TREATMENTa new compilation of 46 songs, both originals and covers, that serves as a tribute to trans and non-binary people. The full project is due out November 22, but Red Hot has already released TREATMENTThe first single: Prince’s “I Would Die 4 U,” reimagined by Wendy and Lisa of Prince’s band, The Revolution, alongside London-based singer Lauren Auder.
The three-and-a-half-hour tracklist is split into eight chapters, and the project as a whole features over 100 contributing artists. In addition to a new song from Sade Adu titled “Young Lion” (which is her first new song in six years), the compilation features 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 spearheaded by artists, activists and producers Dust Reid and Massima Bell; in addition to serving as a celebration of trans artists and their existence, TREATMENT 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, with reimagined covers, poems and new originals comprising PATH. 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 been giving to the world and we wanted to create a Red Hot project that centered around those gifts and celebrated them,” Reid says of the album in a statement. “We hoped to create a narrative that positioned trans and nonbinary people as leaders in our society as they do deep internal work to affirm who they are in our current climate. We felt like this is something everyone should do — whether you identify as trans or nonbinary or otherwise, if you take the time to explore your gender, get in touch with the emotional side of yourself, maybe we’d have a future oriented around the values of community, collaboration, care, and healing.”
Reid and Bell designed TREATMENT be a “spiritual experience,” with each chapter reflecting the original eight-stripe rainbow pride flag. Each chapter begins with what Reid and Bell call a “chapter track,” which serves as the thematic root from which the rest of the chapter’s song branches out. The project, which takes its title from Caetano Veloso’s 1972 album of the same name, “pays homage to the legacies of those trans and gender non-conforming artists who created spaces of possibility before awareness of trans identity permeated mainstream consciousness.”
First from TREATMENT is “I Would Die 4 U,” performed by Wendy & Lisa and Lauren Auder. The reimagined version features the same rapid-fire synths and anthemic longing as Prince’s original, but with even more enchanting power behind it. 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 potent and open-ended, open to interpretation, but shine through an unconditional message of holding and support,” Auder says, “Getting Wendy and Lisa, who sang on the original, to join me on this version has been one of the proudest moments in my music career and I’m so happy to share this through Red Hot.”
Listen to “I Would Die 4 U” below and scroll down for the compilation’s extensive track listing. TREATMENT will be released on November 22nd.
TREATMENT Work of art:
TREATMENT 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. “How Sweet Was My Laziness” – Jeff Tweedy + Claire Rousay
04. “The 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 (feat. Frankie Cosmos)
10. “Deeper Understanding” – Manual Habits (with Bill Callahan)
Chapter III – Dark Night
11. “Under the Shadow of Another Moon” – Hunter Schafer + Cole Pulice
12. “Blush” – Mero + Lucy Liyou
13. “Is it cold in the water?” – Moses Sumney
14. “Knowing who you are at any age” – Anajah + Gary Gunn
15. “Is It Over Yet?” – Niecy Blues (feat. Joy Guidry)
Chapter IV – The awakening
16. “Something is going on and I may not fully understand it, but I am happy to stand by that understanding” – André 3000
17. “Come Back Different” – Nina Keith (with Julie Byrne and Taryn Blake Miller)
18. “Song to the Siren” – Rachika Nayar (with Julianna Barwick and Cassandra Croft)
19. “Love Hymn” – Arthur Baker (featuring Pharoah Sanders)
20. “People Are Small / Rapture” – L'Rain + Voices from the New York Trans Oral History Project
Chapter V – The duel
21. “We’ve been through a lot” – Jlin + Moor Mother
22. “My Name” – Kara Jackson + Ahya Simone + Dave Longstreth
23. “Point of Disgust” – Genius Perfume + Alan Sparhawk (Bass)
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” – Black Ice Cream + Eileen Myles
28. “I feel so different” – Ezra Furman + Sharon Van Etten
29. “Mourning Dove” – Gia Margaret
30. “Feel better” – Adrianne Lenker
31. “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. “Cherub” – AV Maria + SKY + Belina Rose
Chapter VII – Liberation
35. “Inside and Out” – Green-House + Kelela
36. “Aaron” – Cassandra Jenkins + Bloomsday + Babehoven
37. “The Young Lion” – Sade Adu
38. “You Make Me Feel (So Real)” – Moses Sumney + Lyra Pramuk + Sam Smith
39. “Many Ways” – CLARITY (with Clairo)
40. “I Feel Free” – Sparkle Division (feat. Pepper MaShay)
Chapter VIII – Reinvention
41. “Free Yourself” – Nico Georis + KB Brookins
42. “A 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 and Lisa from Revolution
45. “Always” – Time Wharp + Elizabeth and Beverly Glenn-Copeland
46. “Always New” – Sam Smith + Beverly Glenn-Copeland
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