Everything is New is a three-part international multimedia project in aid of Dalit “untouchable” children in south east India. Curated, produced, and released by Transgressive North in 2014, it consists of:

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THE FULL STORY

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The children from the Light of Love Children's Home are at the heart of the Everything Is New project. Their stories and voices inspired contributions from dozens of international artists, including Jarvis Cocker, Owen Pallett, doseone, White Hinterland, Margaret Bennett, Four Tet, Dan Deacon, Bear in Heaven, Califone, Deerhoof, El Guincho, Gang Gang Dance, Julian Lynch, Max Tundra, No Age, The Ruby Suns, Rustie, Son Lux, Sun Airway, A Sunny Day in Glasgow, Irvine Welsh, and many more.

 

The Everything is New project grew from a dialogue between Transgressive North (TN), and the charity Scottish Love in Action (SLA), which feeds, clothes, houses, educates and provides medical care for hundreds of children in India. Following several visits to the SLA-funded home in Tuni, southeast India, the TN developed Everything is New as a vehicle to empower and support the children, and connect their voices with others across the world.

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During the course of their visits to Tuni, the TN team recorded hours of samples of the childrens' voices, including them singing, talking, or just going about their day to day lives. The album Sun Choir, by the TN's in-house band Marram, was written with these voices at its core - the voices of the Light of Love Children's Choir.

 

At the same time, the Everything is New feature film was made by TN film-makers, written with and starring the same children from Tuni. Narrated by Irvine Welsh, Everything is New follows our heroes on a magical journey into the unknown to save their dying community.

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During the post-production of Sun Choir and the feature film, we realised we had hours of unused sound recordings which deserved to be heard. So, we invited musicians from across the world to write and record a song using these samples. The result was a diverse and kaleidoscopic concept-album with the children's voices at its core - the BOATS compilation.

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When all three parts of the project were complete, we returned to Tuni for New Year 2013 to celebrate with the kids. As well as a party soundtracked by music from both albums, a red carpet premiere for the Everything is New film was organised at one of the local cinemas in Tuni. All of the children saw themselves on the big screen, and heard their voices in harmony with musicians and other children from across the world, bringing the project full circle.