Moses Sumney & ANOHNI – “Is It Cold In The Water?” (SOPHIE Cover)

Moses Sumney & ANOHNI – “Is It Cold In The Water?” (SOPHIE Cover)

For months now, we’ve been awaiting the release of TRAИƧA, the massive new 46-song Red Hot benefit compilation, and we’ve heard contributions from people like Sade, André 3000, Julien Baker, and Yaeji. The album finally comes out on Friday, and now we get to hear Moses Sumney and ANOHNI get together for a layered, emotive new version of a song that the late SOPHIE released six years ago.

SOPHIE included her song “Is It Cold In The Water?” on her 2018 album OIL OF EVERY PEARL’S UN-INSIDES. Her original version was an anguished howl, surrounding her voice with her trademark frantically ping-ponging electronic sounds. In their new cover, Moses Sumney and ANOHNI remove the disorienting computer stuff, instead combining their voices to wail out a somber orchestrated version of the song. Here’s what SOPHIE’s fellow transgender artist ANOHNI says about it:

Such a blessing to have a chance to sing with Moses Sumney, on his gorgeous rendition of SOPHIE’s mistresspiece. Thank you Red Hot for the love and care you have put into this project, at a pivotal time of trans visibility, and trans vulnerability…

Our bodies have been used and weaponized in malevolent ways by people who wish the worst for us. That malevolence is an unwellness that is affecting all living things now. Many spirits across the planet are experiencing this same siege of stress, loathing and bullying.

One of the greatest indications of a society’s psychic health is reflected in the way that each family holds its LGBTQI children. I pray for the safety and health of trans kids in the US and around the world in years to come.

Dear Ones, know that treasured friends and beloved chosen family already wait for you in your future, if you can just hold on until you reach them.

And here’s what Sumney says:

I have loved the Red Hot compilations since before I started making music. Dark Was The Night defined an era of my youth. It means a lot to be able to finally pay tribute to SOPHIE, whom I met early in our careers, and it’s an honor to contribute to a cause so near and dear to my heart. Trans rights!

Below, listen to the Moses Sumney/ANOHNI version of “Is It Cold In The Water?,” as well as the SOPHIE original.

The TRAИƧA compilation is out 11/22 via Red Hot.

more from New Music