Today, Red Hot + Free is “here to save your summer” (Entertainment Weekly). Out now, the liberating compilation of dance music marks the first brand new benefit album that the Red Hot organization has released in five years, continuing the non-profit's decades-strong mission to fight HIV/AIDS, uplift the LGBTQ community and support fellow humanitarian groups through the power of pop culture and global anthems. From Billy Porter's “blazing vocals” (Rolling Stone) on “Caught In The Middle” to SOFI TUKKER and Amadou & Mariam's “calling for togetherness in love” (NY Times) on “Mon Cheri,” to over a dozen more songs featuring contributions from Allie X, Cakes da Killa, Casey Spooner, CRICKETS, Felix da Housecat, Foster The People, Gloria Gaynor, Honey Dijon, Louis The Child, Pamcy, Ultra Naté, Vagabon and more, Red Hot + Free is “a perfect soundtrack for summer...a queer-club fantasia where the tempos are at a constant pulse, and the revelry is non-stop” (PopMatters).
Red Hot + Free was produced and curated by perennial tastemaker Bill Coleman, and in a career-spanning new profile Wax Poetics says, “It's hard to imagine a more natural union of project and producer...Here’s a long-standing, though largely unheralded, ambassador of New York City club and music culture whose work has energized both mass and underground, now stepping up with a mixtape he envisioned and compiled to benefit music’s oldest AIDS awareness organization.”
Red Hot will be sharing additional Red Hot + Free material throughout the summer, with proceeds from the album benefitting the Ally Coalition, Trevor Project and SAGE, three groups dedicated to LGBTQ equality, suicide prevention in LGBTQ youth, and the elderly LGBTQ generation affected by HIV/AIDS and more.
“Dancing is universal, and it really can bring anyone together,” says Bill Coleman. “We all need relief - and release. I’m happy that Red Hot can provide a new soundtrack for a bit of that. Many of the songs and mixes here embody the energy and levity of being free, finding one’s freedom or simply rising above the daily trials and tribulations of the world and treasuring moments of solace and hope. Wherever you wanna drop the needle, that’s where the party begins. playLOUD.”
