Eastside Radio’s Album of the Week is Stay Human Vol II by Michael Franti & Spearhead, released on the Heavenly Sweetness label.

Michael Franti’s latest album is the soundtrack to the new Stay Human film, which shares the stories of those who’ve overcome cynicism with hope – including the experiences of Arief Rabik, an environmental scientist in Bali who perfected a method of making industrial and domestic products with bamboo to reduce deforestation; and Robin Lim, a midwife who opened a birthing clinic in the aftermath of a typhoon in the Philippines. Inspired through such stories, Franti, in turn, hopes to inspire people to become change makers and to ‘Stay Human’.

This idea is embedded in the song, “Stay Human 2”, also featured in the film, which was written by Franti for his mother last year when she had a stroke, saying that, “My mom adopted me and was the main person in my life who encouraged me to be my authentic self and to embrace others for being who they are, despite the differences that may first appear on the surface. It is a song that encourages us to not give up on one another, even when things are the most challenging like the times we are living in today,”.

ALBUM TRACKLIST

01-Little Things
02-Just to Say I Love You
03-Flower in the Gun (feat. Victoria Canal)
04-Only Thing Missing Was You 2 (feat. HIRIE)
05-Stay Human 2
06-Summertime Won’t Last Long
07-This World Is So F*cked Up (But I Ain’t Ever Giving Up on It)
08-You’re Number One
09-Enjoy Every Second (feat. AGodess)
10-Nobody Cries Alone
11-Extraordinary
12-When the Sun Begins to Shine
13-Show Me Your Peace Sign
14-Take Me Alive