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 14 years, a 30-minute piece by 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 via Red Hot. Listen to Lauren Auder and Wedy & Lisa’s cover of Prince’s “I Would Die 4 U” below
Transa 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, 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,” says 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.”