Faye Webster, Julien Baker, Squirrel Flower and more have released a new benefit compilation titled ‘Through The Soil II’. View the tracklisting and link to listen below.
100 per cent of proceeds from the collection will go towards The Trevor Project, a non-profit charity organisation with a focus on mental health awareness and suicide prevention among LGBTQ youth.
This is the second iteration of the project, following 2021’s compilation which benefited the NAMI COVID mental health support fund. The album was completely organised without labels or industry entities, and features a wide range of indie sounds from shoegaze to introspective folk.
“As a kid, I felt very trapped and othered and struggled to see people like me in media and even just in everyday life—like many queer kids do,” Gabbi Jr, whose track ‘Muddy’ features on the album said.
Gabi continued: “I knew I couldn’t be honest about my feelings in the communities I occupied as a kid because it would likely end in conversion therapy. That, combined with the many suppressive things in our culture, led to self-hatred and hopelessness.”
For Gabi, being part of the compilation is personal, and ‘Muddy’ was an opportunity to write about “being trans and losing and finding hope again and again… as some days are joy-filled and some days are full of terror”.
You can listen to the compilation here.
‘Through The Soil II’ Tracklist’
1. MJ Lenderman – ‘You Don’t Know The Shape I’m In’
2. Sword II – ‘First Rule of the Bug’
3. Cryogeyser – ‘Obvious’
4. Horse Jumper of Love – ‘Hotel Swimming Pool’
5. Knifeplay – ‘Trevor Project Benefit Compilation Song’
6. Squirrel Flower – ‘Rockets’
7. Deadharrie – ‘Tower’
8. Teethe – ‘Lucky’
9. Hiding Places – ‘The Fly’
10. Floatie – ‘Over the Terrain’
11. Bedside Kites – ‘Artificial Labor’
12. Sipper, Russy – ‘Byebye’
13. Triathalon – ‘For Now’
14. Koleżanka – ‘Hot Toddy’
15. Lala Lala, Tomberlin – ‘Good Luck New Year’
16. Gabi Jr. – ‘Muddy’
17. IAN SWEET – ‘Fuckthat (demo)’
18. Shep Treasure – ‘Two Heart’
19. Skirts – ‘Tunnel Vision’
20. BEX – ‘Fantasy Of’
21. Faye Webster – ‘What Used to Be Mine (Live)’
22. Boosegumps – ‘One Morning’
23. Jodi – ‘Where’
24. BABEHOVEN – ‘Bad Bad Good Good’
25. Onlyness – ‘Lonely in Paradise’
26. Ratboys – ‘Lie, Lie, Lie’
27. Julien Baker – ‘Milkman of Human Kindness’
28. Friendship – ‘Lucinda on Junebug’
29. Euphoria Again – ‘This is the Time (Hermit)’
30. Swim Camp – ‘Soccer’
31. Wednesday – ‘Who Me?’
32. Sun Organ – ‘High In the Shower Pt. 2’
33. They Are Gutting a Body of Water ft. Highnoon, Karly Hartzman, Ruth in the Bardo, & Valerie Barbosa – ‘Floe II’
34. Sam Silbert (ft. They Are Gutting a Body of Water) – ‘Riddler’s Mind’
35. Computerwife – ‘Lexapro’
36. Parannoul – ‘Lost and Found’
37. Dummy – ‘Ethereal Security Guard’
A live version of Webster’s heart-wrenching ‘What Used To Be Mine’ features on the collection, alongside Baker’s cover of Billy Bragg‘s ‘The Milkman of Human Kindness’. Squirrel Flower lends their echoing, haunting track ‘Rockets’ to the compilation.
“It was important to take part in a project like ‘Through The Soil II’ supporting The Trevor Project because everything right now is so fragile,” Joe Trainor of Los Angeles noise-pop quartet Dummy, whose track ‘Ethereal Security Guard’ closes the compilation said.
“There is a near constant effort to take away the rights of LGBTQ+ people, along with women and POC. To not be a political band in 2022 is beyond us.”
For help and advice on mental health:
- CALM – The Campaign Against Living Miserably
- Help Musicians UK – Around the clock mental health support and advice for musicians (CALL MUSIC MINDS MATTER ON: 0808 802 8008)
- Music Support Org – Help and support for musicians struggling with alcoholism, addiction, or mental health issues (CALL: 0800 030 6789)
- YOUNG MINDS – The voice for young people’s health and wellbeing
- Time To Change – Let’s end mental health discrimination
- The Samaritans – Confidential support 24 hours a day
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