MJ Lenderman, Animal Collective and more contribute to benefit album for Hurricane Helene victims

nme.com:

MJ Lenderman and Animal Collective are among the artists who have contributed to a new benefit album for victims of Hurricane Helene in Asheville, North Carolina.In September, Hurricane Helene hit the Southeastern states of the US, laying waste to areas of Georgia, Tennessee, North Carolina and many more.

The hurricane resulted in an estimate of 221 deaths and $78.7 billion in damages.Now, a new compilation album ‘We Love It Here’ has been released to raise funds for Lamplight AVL – a nonprofit that supports those in Asheville’s arts community impacted by the disaster.

You can buy it digitally here or pre-order a limited-edition vinyl copy – which includes the additional Animal Collective track ‘Better Things to Come’ – here.Alongside the aforementioned artists are Horse Jumper of Love, Reggie Watts, Squirrel Flower, Hello Mary, Nightlands, Fust, Green-House and Floating Action, as well as a collaborative track by Yellowjackets and Heretic actress Sophie Thatcher.The project was organised by Asheville-based recording studio Drop of Sun, who were inspired to help the local arts community after watching them struggle to recover from damage from the hurricane.“The remarkable breadth of these previously unreleased tracks reflect Drop of Sun’s core principle of fostering an environment for artists to freely and boundlessly create,” explained Drop of Sun founder Adam McDaniel, per Pitchfork. “Being a resource to the Asheville arts community has yielded wonderful, long-lasting relationships, amazing songs like these, and a platform to communicate and cope during hard times.