Album Review: Various Artists – Passages: Artists in Solidarity with Immigrants, Refugees & Asylum Seekers

Solidarity, Authentic, Raw.

Passages: Artists in Solidarity with Immigrants, Refugees & Asylum Seekers is a benefit compilation released December 5, 2025 on Western Vinyl, featuring seventeen original contributions recorded by a wide range of artists united in support of displaced communities. Proceeds from the project are directed to Texas-based nonprofits American Gateways and Casa Marianella, which provide legal services, shelter, food and health care to immigrants, refugees and asylum seekers. According to Pitchfork, the compilation was curated by Emilie Rex and Rick Alverson with the prompt for contributors to write in a place that feels like home, a gesture woven into the album’s overarching theme.

The sequencing of the album flows from intimate acoustic gestures to ambient textures and folk soundscapes, creating a tapestry of emotional states that mirror notions of journey, belonging and refuge. Many tracks employ minimal instrumentation and unvarnished production, adding to the album’s focus on personal narrative over studio polish. Music retailer Norman Records notes that artists were asked to write and record in places that feel like home, resulting in recordings captured through home setups and even phones, infusing the compilation with immediacy and rawness (via Norman Records).

“Home, as we know it, is under threat,” producers Emilie Rex and Rick Alverson explained in a press release, framing the album’s purpose as both artistic reflection and advocacy (via Pitchfork).

“No More Darkness” has Alan Sparhawk open the album with a subdued guitar and hushed vocal approach, immediately placing emotional clarity and compassion at the forefront. His statement assessing the track underscores the compilation’s alignment of music with reflective solidarity.

St. Panther’s contribution arrives early in the tracklist with a subtle pulse and forward motion, introducing a rhythmic indie sensibility that emphasizes connection and collective presence. 

Daniel Lopatin takes an unexpected turn on “Country,” favoring pastoral ambience over the synthetic experimentation associated with his work as Oneohtrix Point Never. The track’s soft tonal shifts and open space suggest both physical landscapes and internal states, a contrast Pitchfork describes as fitting the compilation’s emotional openness.

Benjamin Booker blends folk-leaning melodies with reflective lyricism on “A Place for Us,” crafting a song that feels both personal and communal. 

According to Dusted Magazine, Lambchop’s “Afterburner” leans into country-tinged arrangements to explore unease and inward reflection. The song’s restrained instrumentation and deliberate pacing mirror broader social tensions, allowing discomfort to surface without overt dramatics.

Lonnie Holley expands the compilation’s sonic vocabulary with an abstract, free-form piece built on improvisational vocals and droning harmonics. The track challenges the idea of borders themselves, using experimental sound to dissolve rigid boundaries both musical and conceptual.

“One Hundred-Twenty Dollar Song” shifts toward rhythmic idiosyncrasy, juxtaposing playful melodic fragments with the compilation’s broader contemplative mood (via Pitchfork).

Passages dance around the idea of home as an emotional and physical territory. This thematic cohesion is reinforced by the personal contexts artists brought to their compositions, and by the producers’ directive for creative work rooted in meaningful environments. The raw, at-times lo-fi sonic palette and unvarnished vocals throughout reinforce the authenticity of these statements, aligning artistic expression with humanitarian urgency (via. Norman Records).

Passages: Artists in Solidarity with Immigrants, Refugees & Asylum Seekers offers a moving blend of ambient, folk and indie textures that collectively foreground empathy, resilience and shared humanity. The inclusion of statements from artists and curators further deepens the listener’s understanding of the compilation’s mission. Through understated production and heartfelt contributions, the album stands as a testament to music as both emotional expression and social solidarity (via Pitchfork).