Various Artists - Help(2) [2 LP, Bonus 7-inch, Gatefold]

Thirty years after the original Help album raised over £1.2 million for children caught in the Bosnian conflict, War Child Records returned to Abbey Road Studios for one extraordinary week in November 2025 to record HELP(2), a follow-up of equal ambition and greater urgency. Produced by James Ford and released March 6, 2026, the album gathers 23 new recordings from some of the most significant artists working today, all in support of War Child's ongoing work providing aid, education, and mental health support to children living through conflict in Gaza, Sudan, Yemen, and Ukraine. The vinyl edition includes a bonus single-sided 7-inch of Oasis performing "Acquiesce (Live from Wembley Stadium, 28 September '25)," the first physical release of any live recording from their record-breaking 2025 world tour, enclosed within the gatefold.

The breadth of the tracklist is genuinely remarkable. Arctic Monkeys open with "Opening Night," their first new song since 2022, a ballad about political sloganeering recorded for the project. "Flags," led by Damon Albarn with Grian Chatten of Fontaines D.C. and Kae Tempest, draws on a choir assembled from members of English Teacher, Pulp, and Black Country, New Road. Pulp's "Begging for Change" is among the most urgent tracks on the record, while Olivia Rodrigo's reading of The Magnetic Fields' "The Book of Love," backed by Blur's Graham Coxon, is one of its most quietly devastating. Arooj Aftab and Beck turn "Lilac Wine" into a candlelit meditation, Depeche Mode tackle Buffy Sainte-Marie's "Universal Soldier," and Fontaines D.C. bring Sinead O'Connor's "Black Boys on Mopeds" into the present with striking conviction. Every one of the 23 tracks was donated by the artists involved, with all proceeds benefiting War Child.

The 2LP is pressed on black vinyl and packaged in a gatefold jacket, with the Oasis 7" single enclosed inside. Creative direction for the project was handled by Academy Award-winning filmmaker Jonathan Glazer, who gave cameras to children throughout the studio sessions and gathered footage from children on the ground in conflict zones for the companion film. The result is a release that carries genuine weight both musically and as a document of collective artistic response to a global crisis.

• Format: Black Vinyl 2LP with Bonus Single-Sided 7-inch
• Standout Tracks: "Opening Night," "Flags," "Begging for Change," "The Book of Love"
• Pressing Details: Gatefold jacket; Bonus single-sided Oasis 7-inch "Acquiesce (Live from Wembley Stadium, 28 September '25)" enclosed in gatefold; Produced by James Ford; Recorded at Abbey Road Studios, November 2025; Released on War Child Records
• Genre/Style: Indie Rock, Alternative Rock, Art Rock, Post-Punk
• UPC: 191400691612

HELP(2) is one of the most significant charity albums ever assembled, and every purchase directly supports War Child's work with children affected by conflict worldwide.

* The Spotify track list may not exactly represent the tracks and audio of this LP edition.

Track List:

Side A:

1. Opening Night [Arctic Monkeys]
2. Flags [Damon Albarn, Grian Chatten & Kae Tempest]
3. Strangers [Black Country, New Road]
4. Let's Do It Again! [The Last Dinner Party]
5. Sunday Morning [Beth Gibbons, former vocalist of Portishead]

Side B:

1. Lilac Wine [Arooj Aftab & Beck]
2. The 343 Loop [King Krule]
3. Universal Soldier [Depeche Mode]
4. Helicopters [Ezra Collective & Greentea Peng]
5. Nothing I Could Hide [Arlo Parks]
6. Parasite [English Teacher & Graham Coxon]
7. Say Yes [beabadoobee]

Side C:

1. Relive, Redie [Big Thief]
2. Black Boys On Mopeds [Fontaines D.C.]
3. Warning [Cameron Winter, vocalist of Geese]
4. Don't Fight The Young [Young Fathers]
5. Begging For Change [Pulp]
6. Naboo [Sampha]

Side D:

1. Obvious [Wet Leg]
2. When The War Is Finally Done [Foals]
3. Carried My Girl [Bat For Lashes]
4. Sunday Light [Anna Calvi, Ellie Rowsell, Nilüfer Yanya & Dove Ellis]
5. The Book Of Love [Olivia Rodrigo]
   

Side E: 7-inch Single

1. Acquiesce [Oasis]