DULUTH — Michael Stipe has released a new song featuring Duluth musician Gaelynn Lea. "Give Me A Hand" is available for purchase on Bandcamp through Saturday as part of a charity compilation supporting climate action.
Lea first shared news of the collaboration last year. Stipe rose to fame as the lead singer of R.E.M., a popular and influential alternative rock band active from 1980 until amicably dissolving in 2011.
Written by Stipe with Warren Fischer (Fischerspooner) and Andy LeMaster (Now It's Overhead), "Give Me A Hand" is a gentle, gradually surging song built on synthesizers. Lea joins midway through, singing repetitions of the song's title along with Stipe. Later, her voice returns to join Stipe's on poignant lyrics including "be who you are, who you've got to be."
Lea and her husband, Paul Tressler, joined Stipe in late April for a dinner in New York City to celebrate the song's release. Lea is in New York for a workshop involving "an as-of-yet unannounced project creating a new musical," she wrote in an email to the News Tribune.
Last year, Lea made her Broadway debut as composer and a performer of an original score for a new production of "Macbeth." While the production overall received mixed reviews, Lea earned praise for her "tremendously spooky" music and made headlines for "breaking Broadway barriers."
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The new charity compilation, released through the nonprofit EarthPercent, includes a total of 67 tracks from artists including Brian Eno; Coldplay and H.E.R.; Nile Rodgers and Chic; and Donna Grantis, a Canadian guitarist who became part of Minnesota music history when Prince enlisted her to join his band 3RDEYEGIRL in 2012.
"Give Me A Hand" will also be included on one of a series of vinyl records released in limited edition July 1. To learn more about the song and compilation, see earthpercent.org.
The Trust Project
