Western Vinyl has announced Passages: Artists in Solidarity with Immigrants, Refugees, and Asylum Seekers, a new compilation featuring home-recorded songs from an impressive lineup including Dirty Projectors, Daniel Lopatin (Oneohtrix Point Never), Bonnie “Prince” Billy, Lambchop, Y La Bamba, Benjamin Booker and more.
The album will be released on 5 December via Western Vinyl, with all proceeds supporting the Texas-based organizations American Gateways and Casa Marianella.
The project opens with two new singles; No More Darkness by Alan Sparhawk and A Place for Us by Benjamin Booker, both of which are available to stream now.
Passages invited artists to record music “in a place that feels like home,” resulting in intimate and often raw performances captured in home studios and even on phones. The concept, say producers Emilie Rex and Rick Alverson, stems from a shared concern for belonging and displacement:
“Home, as we know it, is under threat. When immigrants, refugees, and asylum seekers exercise their human right to safe passage, they defend our ability to do so and our right to be and feel at home.”
On No More Darkness, Sparhawk reflects on compassion and connection:
“There are real things we can do to lift each other out of suffering sometimes it’s tangible charity like this compilation, sometimes it’s encouragement, sometimes it’s simply time spent with someone who needs help getting through the moment. Let’s do our best to turn up the light.”
Booker’s A Place for Us carries a message of unity and hope:
“The human struggle is a family struggle. We rise together and we suffer together. There are so many things out of our control, but we can always open our hearts to love and understanding. May you find light in the darkness.”
The album’s 17 tracks span ambient, folk, gospel, and experimental sounds, offering a deeply personal response to the global themes of migration and belonging.
A live variety show and fundraising auction, hosted by Passages contributor Tim Heidecker, will take place on 4 December via his show Office Hours.
Passages will be available digitally and as a limited-edition LP. A deluxe version includes liner notes by National Book Award winner Jason De León, poetry from Ross Gay, and photography by Greg Constantine.
Tracklisting
1. "No More Darkness" - Alan Sparhawk
2. "Everybody Is" - St. Panther
3. "Country" - Daniel Lopatin
4. "A Place for Us" - Benjamin Booker
5. "Afterburner" - Lambchop
6. "Home" - Quin Kirchner (ft. Tekle Mezghebe)
7. "No Place to Rest My Head" - Marisa Anderson
8. "Wrong Crowd" - Y La Bamba
9. "A Border Is Just a Space Between Two Lines" - Lonnie Holley
10. "The Autumn Wind (no. 71)" - Bonnie Prince Billy
11. "Parallels" - Erik Hall
12. "One Hundred-Twenty Dollar Song" - Dirty Projectors
13. "13 Lakes" - William Tyler
14. "All That I Know" - Aisha Burns
15. "Un Trayecto Largo" - Anjou (ft. I. Nova)
16. "White Sage" - Heather Woods Broderick
17. "Alone Until I’m Home" - Tim Heidecker
