HELP(2) brings together Arctic Monkeys, Olivia Rodrigo, Pulp, Fontaines D.C., Depeche Mode and many more in a new charity release for War Child UK.
It was Monday, 4 September 1995: the wars of the former Yugoslavia were still raging, and the siege of Sarajevo was still months away from ending. Led by Tony Crean of Go! Discs and the founders of War Child UK, legends of the British music scene gathered across multiple studios with a stark, simple brief: make a record by the ‘24-hour rule’ – every track written and recorded in a single day.
HELP appeared on shelves just five days later, featuring tracks by Oasis, Radiohead, The Stone Roses, Portishead, Massive Attack, Sinéad O’Connor, Blur and others. It was the only time Oasis and Blur ever appeared on the same record, just months after their legendary chart battle – proof that any difference could be suspended when something more urgent was at stake. The aim was simple: raise money, and focus attention on children caught up in the war in the former Yugoslavia. Mastered by Brian Eno at Abbey Road Studios, the album became a cultural phenomenon – evidence that the music industry can sometimes act, and move, faster than rigid political structures.
As Rich Clarke, head of music at War Child UK, has pointed out, the organisation was founded in 1993 by two film-makers, David Wilson and Bill Leeson, after witnessing the impact of war in the former Yugoslavia first-hand. Before the record, the charity had already experimented with benefit gigs, fashion shows, and art exhibitions curated by Brian Eno and David Bowie – but the release of HELP broke through in a different way, drawing national and international attention and helping raise more than £1 million for the cause.
The visual identity of the project was as raw as the music itself, designed by John Squire of The Stone Roses. I still vividly remember picking up the CD a few years after its release, at the market in front of the SKC Belgrade – drawn in by the artwork, then thrilled to see so many of my fav artists gathered in one place. Back then, I didn’t understand the story behind it, or that it was, in a way, meant for me: a child growing up in a country shaped by war. Decades later, I’m adding my own thread to the story of HELP(2) – and the urgency of helping children living through conflict feels painfully present again.
Why a new HELP album now?
The idea for a new HELP record began taking shape in the wake of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Since then, the feeling of crisis has only spread – new headlines, new front lines, and the same children paying the price, from Gaza, to Sudan, to Syria… HELP(2) is a response to that widening reality: the music world trying, once again, to move quickly and loudly enough that attention, and support, arrives while it can still make a difference.
The project truly accelerated in late 2024 when producer James Ford joined, and Arctic Monkeys soon followed, an obvious fit given Ford’s long history with the band. Their connection to War Child UK wasn’t new either – in 2018 they played a benefit show at the Royal Albert Hall, donating the proceeds, and a later live release generated further support.
‘Opening Night’ by Arctic Monkeys, the first single from the album
For the band, it was their first proper return to the studio in years. Instead of starting from scratch, they reached back to a half-finished idea that Alex Turner had been turning over for more than a decade. That old fragment became ‘Opening Night’, the first single from the project, and Arctic Monkeys’ first new song since 2022 – setting the tone for the compilation and anchoring this massive project.
Most of the HELP(2) sessions unfolded over three days at Abbey Road Studios, overseen by executive producer James Ford. The original spirit came back – not as nostalgia, and not as a remake, but in the simple act of musicians creating side by side, in real time. Once again, the album proved its rare power to bring the global pop world into the same room as rock royalty.
One of the most anticipated moments on the record is ‘Flags’, the compilation’s experimental heartbeat. Damon Albarn teamed up with Grian Chatten of Fontaines D.C. and Kae Tempest to bring the track over the line – and the room around them kept expanding. The final version features guitar from Johnny Marr, Adrian Utley of Portishead, and Dave Okumu, with backing vocals from Jarvis Cocker, Declan McKenna, Marika Hackman, and members of Black Country, New Road, along with others who happened to be there that day.
And in a neat echo of the first HELP – which included an instrumental from Blur – their guitarist Graham Coxon dropped by this time too, sitting in with the indie band English Teacher, and also playing on Olivia Rodrigo’s cover of ‘The Book of Love’.
Filmed through the eyes of children
One of the most striking elements of HELP(2) is the way it was documented. The sessions were shot on hand-held cameras by a crew of grade-schoolers, guided by Oscar-winning director Jonathan Glazer (known for The Zone of Interest and Under the Skin). The idea was simple: let children tell the story as they see it. And by all accounts, that choice changed the mood inside the studio – children moving through the rooms, cameras in hand, cutting through tension and bringing a sense of play to a mission that is anything but light.
Beyond Abbey Road Studios, Glazer’s team also worked with fixers and film-makers in Ukraine, Gaza, Yemen and Sudan to gather footage captured by children living on the front lines of these conflicts. As the press release notes, the result is a powerful piece of work – creating a direct, unbreakable link between the recording booth and the reality on the ground.
A call for action
HELP(2) is a vital intervention – and a reminder of what’s possible when the music industry unites around a shared purpose. Its necessity is underscored by a sobering reality: when the original HELP was released, roughly 10% of the world’s children were affected by conflict; today, that figure has almost doubled to 1 in 5 – around 520 million children worldwide, more than at any time since the Second World War.
HELP(2) Tracklist
01 Arctic Monkeys – Opening Night
02 Damon Albarn, Grian Chatten & Kae Tempest – Flags
03 Black Country, New Road – Strangers
04 The Last Dinner Party – Let’s do it again!
05 Beth Gibbons – Sunday Morning
06 Arooj Aftab & Beck – Lilac Wine
07 King Krule – The 343 Loop
08 Depeche Mode – Universal Soldier
09 Ezra Collective & Greentea Peng – Helicopters
10 Arlo Parks – Nothing I Could Hide
11 English Teacher & Graham Coxon – Parasite
12 Beabadoobee – Say Yes
13 Big Thief – Relive, Redie
14 Fontaines D.C. – Black Boys on Mopeds
15 Cameron Winter – Warning
16 Young Fathers – Don’t Fight the Young
17 Pulp – Begging for Change
18 Sampha – Naboo
19 Wet Leg – Obvious
20 Foals – When the War is Finally Done
21 Bat For Lashes – Carried my girl
22 Anna Calvi, Ellie Rowsell, Nilüfer Yanya & Dove Ellis – Sunday Light
23 Olivia Rodrigo – The Book of Love
HELP(2) will be released on Friday, 6 March 2026, via War Child Records, and is available to pre-order / pre-save here.
Reporting on music, UK-based
