Julien Baker, Faye Webster, Lala Lala with Tomberlin, Wednesday, MJ Lenderman, IAN SWEET, Squirrel Flower, and more appear on the new benefit compilation Through the Soil II, which is out today via Bandcamp. The 37-track collection is the sequel to last year’s Through the Soil, which benefited the NAMI COVID-19 Mental Health Support Fund and became the best-selling compilation in Bandcamp history. The latest installment also features new recordings by Parannoul, Dummy, Babehoven, Floatie, Horse Jumper of Love, Jodi, Ratboys, and Gabi Jr. All proceeds will be donated to The Trevor Project, an organization focused on mental health awareness and suicide prevention amongst LGBTQ youth. Check out Through the Soil II below.
“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,” Gabi Jr. said in a statement. “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.”
They continued: “I was fortunate enough to make it to a point where I was able to overcome those feelings, find community, and build a support system for myself. But all those kids out there who are still doing that and need support and love to get to a point where they can do those things, can turn to groups like the Trevor Project for safe care and guidance. To not feel so alone and have the opportunity to see themselves in the person who’s helping them on the other line. It’s beautiful and— without any exaggeration at all—it saves lives.”
“It was important to take part in a project like Through The Soil II that is supporting something like Trevor Project because everything right now is so fragile,” Joe Trainor of the Los Angeles quartet Dummy commented. “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”.
Lala Lala added: “It’s special to be able to support organizations I care about, like the Trevor Project, through my art. Young queer people need and deserve protection and the Trevor Project helps provide that.”
Through the Soil II Cover Artwork:
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 – F*ckthat (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
