In 1995, the UK-based non-profit War Child recorded the charity album HELP. The project featured several British music legends and raised the equivalent of over $2.3 million CAD to support children in zones of conflict. Now, over 30 years later, they’ve recorded HELP(2). In anticipation of the star-studded album’s imminent release, I’m answering all of your questions.
What is War Child? Who is on the album? What tracks should we be excited for? And most importantly, why is the timing of this sequel to their iconic first project significant in 2026?
WAR CHILD
In 1993, War Child was founded by David Wilson and Bill Leeson, both British filmmakers, as well as Willemijn Verloop, a Dutch social entrepreneur, in response to the violence and ethnic cleansing taking place in the former Yugoslavia. Struck by the impact of the conflict on children and the lack of specialized charities or support in place to provide aid, Wilson, Leeson and Verloop were inspired to fill the gap.
The proceeds from their first album in 1995, featuring artists such as Radiohead, Paul McCartney, Blur and Oasis, funded the construction of a music therapy centre in Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Since HELP’s release, they have consistently collaborated with big names in the music industry to host multiple series of live shows, including BRITs Week. This annual series of concerts takes place surrounding the BRIT Awards, a UK award show celebrating British and international popular music. Performing at this year’s BRITs Week is Olivia Dean, a British singer-songwriter recently named Best New Artist at the Grammy Awards.
NOTEWORTHY FEATURES
HELP(2) is a collaborative album with four sides, featuring 23 songs recorded by 31 artists at London’s iconic Abbey Road Studios in November 2025.
As of right now, two songs on the album have been released: Opening Night, featuring Arctic Monkeys and Flags, featuring Damon Albarn (of Blur and Gorillaz), Grian Chatten (of Fontaines D.C.) and Kae Tempest (an English poet, spoken word performer and recording artist).
Both songs have been released on YouTube with a visualizer that appears to be a video capturing the album cover. A boy is seen running in slow motion through a shallow body of water, the horizon fading into a glassy mirage of clouds and sky. A freedom with no foreseeable end.
The Arctic Monkeys track is typical content from them. The chord progression and melody carry the standard, steady angst that their fans devour. The gritty guitar pedal combined with a satisfying percussive tapping makes for an intriguing introduction, and the lyrics hint at a future of dystopian war-ridden video games. Ultimately, we are getting classic Alex Turner in this track.
Flags was a little more surprising — in a really good way. The interplay of Grian Chatten’s deadpan poetry with Damon Albarn’s nostalgic melodies works brilliantly with Kae Tempest’s spoken verses. And that’s all before the children’s choir comes in. In other words, this song feels purposeful. It feels resistant. War Child’s ethos distilled into a piece of music. It’s certainly better than the covers I expected when I first encountered this project.
Other tracks to look out for when the full album comes out on March 6 include: Let’s Do It Again! from The Last Dinner Party, an all-female alternative rock band, and Warning from Cameron Winters, a rising American star. You’ll thank your parents for putting you on to them when you hear Depeche Mode’s Universal Soldier. I’m also eager to hear Adrianne Lenker’s contribution to a project of this magnitude with Big Thief’s Relive, Redie. What an evocative title.
Despite my selection of standouts, all four sides are certainly worth a listen — if not for the artists, for the cause. The album teaser was filmed with children in London, Gaza, Sudan, Ukraine and Yemen for a reason. Kids are impacted by conflict and war around the world every single day.
But HELP(2) does more than simply remind us that these children are suffering. It reminds us that art provides us power and agency to resist, to support and to love.
