Today, Dear Life Records and Pretty Purgatory share Songs of Hope for Gaza, a collection of songs by 33 artists written in solidarity with Palestine. The comp consists of artists such as Little Mazarn, Thanya Iyer, Tashi Dorji, Ava Mirzadegan, Lady Queen Paradise, Ther, Adeline Hotel, and many more. In his essay titled “Notes on Craft: Writing in the Hour of Genocide”, Fargo Tbakhi says, “creative work readies us for material work, by offering a space to try out strategies, think through contradictions, remind us of our own agency.” That agency becomes the benchmark of our community, to be able to gather in shared space, utilize our tools, to connect, to listen, to lift voices, to create and to call for collective action.

You can pre-order the full album on bandcamp now for any amount you can give. The full compilation will be released on October 28th. All proceeds from this compilation will go to ANERA to support humanitarian aid and emergency relief in Gaza and beyond.

In a mission statement by the compilation’s curator, Liza Victoria, she says;

“Songs of Hope For Gaza is a compilation organized as an effort to join together as a music community to write music in solidarity for Palestine. Each musician was given a call to action to write a protest song of their own interpretation, in solidarity with Palestine. The cover painting & title is a nod to Bottles of Hope For Gaza, where in Egypt, bottles containing rice, flour, and beans were thrown into sea in hopes that they would reach the shores of Gaza. In organizing this project, I hope to offer encouragement to anyone in the music community, to speak up in song and to utilize our collective power. I believe it is vital to our own hearts, and our lives as artists, to empathize and show empathy to this cause.”

The track list of Songs of Hope for Gaza is a collection of 33 original songs written in solidarity with Palestine. The collection was mastered by Hamilton Belk.

1. Katie-Krysta 
2. In The Olive Tree- Thanya Iyer 
3. In Palestine- Christy Armstrong 
4. Worse Than Bombs- Matt Bachmann 
5. Sunbirds- Will Stratton 
6. Carolina Wren- Ava Mirzadegan ft. Jason Calhoun 
7. It Is Within You Where The Falcon Sang/ May All The Ancient Olive Trees Return Tashi Dorji 
8. Epitaph- שאַנדע (Shande)
9. Nana’s Story- Guy Capecelatro III 
10. This Very Hour- Little Mazarn 
11. Sunbird- Stephen Kerr 
12. The Economics Of Despair Pt. 1- Ther 
13. The Economics Of Despair Pt.2- Lady Queen Paradise 
14. Twila Ping- Blood Things 
15. Sand Castles- Lisa/Liza 
16. Precious Memory- Liam Grant 
17. Bound To Live-Adeline Hotel 
18. Enduring Silence – Peter McLaughlin
19. How Do We, Country – Ava Brennan 
20. Nothing Fire in the Sky part II- Dee Dee and the Weeds 
21. Two Parts-Tremolo Fields 
22. BREAD- Young Moon 
23. Setting Ourselves on Fire- Sam Pawlowski 
24. All On The Lake- Amelia Riggs 
25. Humanity- Good Good Blood 
26. A Balm For Those Hearts Burnt and Burning Still- Mellifer 
27. Ice Fall- Florida Ghost 
28. The Birds Never Ask if They Deserve to Exist – Slow Hymn 
29. Live Triptych for Gaza- Haven’s Den 
30. Weird Dream- Glass Machine 
31. Sending Heart- Josh Burkette 
32. Arena- Jacob Augustine 
33. War Cry– Asher Platts

Listen to Songs of Hope for Gaza now premiering here!

There are also statements from the artists that are featured in this collection about their own interpretations of a protest song and what it means to be in solidarity.

“This song is actually bits and pieces of conversations had about the flood in Central Texas a few weeks ago in which many children perished. One of my friends offered a prayer to the grieving parents, that children’s spirits fly to the afterworld faster than most. This conversation has been deeply intertwined with many conversations here about climate change and the need to grieve the natural world we once knew in order to adapt and live into the future. When asked if I would write a song in solidarity with Palestine, these conversations glowed bright in my mind as we here in Texas grieve the catastrophic loss of life from the flood. We are all connected in our joys and sorrows, the marrow of our days. May we walk together towards peace. This very hour.”

– Lindsey Verrill of Little Mazarn

“and the lens is a gun 

hope like the sun 

resistance in the make up 

of water and love 

water and love”

– Lyrics from “Blood Things”, Twila Ping

“This song is about the lengths that people/news media/the US and other countries countries will go to avoid witnessing genocide. But also, the ways I too unsee Palestinian death; how reading about starvation is now part of my morning routine, but my days go largely unchanged. I appreciate being a part of this compilation and other actions in solidarity with Palestinians as a way to feel less alone in my witnessing and hopefully bring some mobilization, no matter how small, towards change/relief/ending genocide and occupation.”

– Matt Bachmann

“Anas Al-Sharif was assassinated by Israel. In his last will, he said, “If I die, I die steadfast upon my principles.” We can decide to always be this clear about what we stand for.”

– Lady Queen Paradise

“songs, like history, often rhyme. when we bring struggle home and in our hearts, we create echoes of dreams that predate us, we carry them best when we do it together“

– Ther

“When care and safety is an innate human right of all people, it is such a moral imperative to speak up when that is actively being taken away and deprived of through the use of violence, starvation and murder. At this stage, the accounts of injustices enacted by Israel onto the Palestinian people are near innumerable. All people deserve safety, and all children deserve a childhood. Hearing the suffering cries of a baby which cannot be soothed due to severe burns and shrapnel wounds should be enough to mobilize anyone to act and to use their voice. This sound alone I know I will carry for the rest of my life. This is not a war, this is a genocide, and it must end.”

– Christy Armstrong

“The song is a repeated mantra peeking out from the corners of a meditative but jagged soundscape—to kill the body, but not the idea, which is bound to live. I took the words from an old labor poster that sits beside my desk and contains the quote: “it is true, indeed, that they can execute the body, but they cannot execute the idea which is bound to live.” No violence, no war, no terror inflicted by the oppressor upon the oppressed can ever truly destroy the bonds of solidarity or extinguish the flame of liberation.”

– Adeline Hotel

Victoria continues about the comp, sharing, “it was a privilege to work with each of these artists and hear their perspectives and heart show through. I am so grateful for the dedication and time they each put into this. Free Palestine.
Thanks to Dear Life Records, Frank Meadows, Peter McLaughlin, Chel Painting, Hamilton Belk, Pretty Purgatory, Ava Mirzadegan, & to all the musicians involved.”

You can preorder Songs of Hope for Gaza via Dear Life Records and Pretty Purgatory now with all proceeds going to ANERA.

Artwork by Chel