I was reading this article on Rendah Mag about Awareness II, the charity compilation VALE put out for Autism Awareness Month, and I found it really interesting. It’s the second volume of a project they started in 2020, featuring 27 artists contributing 21 tracks. All the proceeds go to Music for Autism.
It’s cool how on listening you can tell the music wasn’t made just for the cause, There’s an insane level of diversity in all of the tracks, and it’s clear how much care and intention clearly went into the whole project.
VALE said the first compilation came from “personal and professional involvement with individuals with autism,” and that it felt like the right way to use their role in the scene to do something good.
VALE reached out to many artists and received over 75 submissions, they said “many people opened their eyes with their work.”. They weren’t picking based on genre or clout, just whether the music was good. So even though there’s a lot of drum & bass and breakcore on there, it wasn’t intentional, just what happened to come in.
The compilation itself is very varied, which is cool because to me it is kind of representative of the variety/diversity present in the autism spectrum. One of the label heads, Josh, said Sundowning in Blue is his favourite track of the year so far. Nik mentioned standouts from Tensor Project & CENTRL, TRAKA, Prestus, Lossvoise, Shryne and others. What I liked is that these tracks feel like actual personal expressions rather than just trying to make cool noises. A lot of the artists involved are autistic themselves, and it shows in the detail and emotion. There’s a sense of overstimulation, of structure and abstraction, but it’s not trying to “explain” autism, it’s just showing you how these artists hear and feel the world.
“We wanted to convey the tension and anxiety that people with autism face on a daily basis. With this piece, I needed to approach it from another angle, not be too on-the-nose. So I did some experimenting with layers and techniques to get the overall look. I really just let the uneasy feeling take over and the artwork made itself.”- Lost Signal (the visual artist who worked on the album artwork)
What I also liked about the interview was how grounded VALE seem as people, they said projects like this are a reminder of why they run the label at all, to give back, not just push out music. And they made a point to say they hope people approach each VALE release with an open mind, whether they recognise the artist or not.
That resonates with me, as a neurodivergent person i notice a lot of people talk about inclusivity whether in workplaces, education systems, but it feels like there’s some challenges with implementing accessibility to these services for actual neurodivergent individuals themselves, for example it’s brilliant that DSA exists, bit the process of actually getting all the equipment and support permitted is such a hassle that it feels ironic that it’s supposedly designed for neurodivergent people.
This compilation feels like one of the few times autism support has actually been done right, It’s not about putting neurodivergent artists in a separate box to be gawked at, it’s just giving them space, treating them seriously, and trusting that the music speaks for itself, while giving funding to the charity Music for Autism.
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