The Everything is New Project

The Light of Love Children's Home in Tuni, Andhra Pradesh, India is a refuge for orphaned children—children of parents with HIV, parents who committed suicide, or who were murdered for their property, amongst other calamities. In The Everything is New Project, Scotland-based arts collective Transgressive North and charity organization Scottish Love in Action have developed three albums of music around recordings of these children as the Light of Love Children's Choir.

Transgressive North invited artists to use the choir recordings for samples within their own work. They were also challenged to make something "the kids would like." These tracks will be released on a 29-track double album titled Boats. Artists include Four Tet, Gang Gang Dance, Deerhoof, Califone, and Julian Lynch. The musicians and label hope to give these underprivileged children a sense of empowerment by including their voices in the work.

In addition, the Sun Choir EP is a product of another subset of artists, called Marram, working around these children's choir recordings. Artists in Marram include Jarvis Cocker, doseone (Anticon), Owen Pallett (Final Fantasy, Arcade Fire), and White Hinterland. Lyrics are penned by Scottish writers and poets such as Irvine Welsh, Alexander McCall Smith, Valerie Gillies, and Tom Leonard. Both Boats and Sun Choir will be available on January 20th, 2014. All proceeds will go to Scottish Love in Action "which feeds, cloths, houses, educates and provides medical care for over 500 children by funding the Light of Love Home and School in southeast India."

On Marram's "With Us Instead" featuring Owen Pallat, one hears the contemplative melodies of Marillion contrasted with psy-trance explosions of the Afro-Celt Sound System. Frenetic rhythmic structures similar to those found on Dan Deacon's America chatter like frozen teeth. All-in-all, it's pretty good. The kids would be proud.