
On Friday, January 17, 2025, Leaving Records released Staying: Leaving Records Aid To Artists Impacted By The Los Angeles Wildfires. The 98-track compilation album features several prominent acts, including Reggie Watts, Brijean and Andre 3000. Proceeds from the album will directly benefit artists impacted by the deadly wildfires surging throughout Los Angeles County.
“The wildfires that began on the morning of Tuesday, January 7th—and which are still raging—are, in scope and intensity, unlike any other disaster, natural or manmade, in the city’s living memory. Thousands of homes destroyed. Twenty four lives lost at the time of writing (that number will almost certainly rise), and innumerable lives forever altered. The devastation arrived suddenly, and has persisted over the course of a punishing and surreal week,” a statement from Leaving Records reads.
“We rise in the morning after not sleeping. We check the air quality. We check the fires’ progress on the same app we’ve all installed (the City’s alert system keeps misfiring). We add another photo to the go bag. We wonder what the fuck the phrase “8% containment actually means,” or what distinguishes “ready” from “set” when the evacuation warnings are fired off within mere minutes of one another. And what happens when warnings turn to orders. We evacuate.”
Staying: Leaving Records Aid To Artists Impacted By The Los Angeles Wildfires is available via Bandcamp in several formats, including digital, cassette and vinyl.