In 1995 the landmark album Help raised money for Warchild, a charity that undertakes vital work delivering immediate aid, education, specialist mental health support, and protection to children affected by conflict around the world.
The record featured many of the top bands of the day who headed into Abbey Road Studios to record tunes especially for the album. Suede, Massive Attack, Blur, Radiohead, Portishead, Oasis, Paul McCartney and Paul Weller all took part. Recorded in a single day in 1995, the original HELP album raised over £1.2 million, enabling War Child to provide vital support to thousands of children caught in the Bosnian conflict.
Now a follow up record Help (2) has been created and it’ll be out on 6th March. Under the direction of producer James Flood an impressive line up of artists have donated their time.
On the new record you’ll find Anna Calvi, Arctic Monkeys, Arlo Parks, Arooj Aftab, Bat For Lashes, Beabadoobee, Beck, Beth Gibbons, Big Thief, Black Country, New Road, Cameron Winter, Damon Albarn, Depeche Mode, Dove Ellis, Ellie Rowsell, English Teacher, Ezra Collective, Foals, Fontaines D.C., Graham Coxon, Greentea Peng, Grian Chatten, Kae Tempest, King Krule, Nilüfer Yanya, Olivia Rodrigo, Pulp, Sampha, The Last Dinner Party, Wet Leg and Young Fathers.
The spirit of the original record was reflected in the collaborative nature of the recording process with numerous impromptu moments unfolding in the studio. Damon Albarn’s session for Flags saw him joined by Johnny Marr on guitar and Kae Tempest and Grian Chatten of Fontaines D.C. on vocals; and Olivia Rodrigo was connected with Graham Coxon resulting in the guitarist performing on her cover of The Book of Love.
In addition to the stellar cast of musicians involved, renowned filmmaker and Academy Award Winner Jonathan Glazer acted as Creative Director for HELP(2), working with Academy Films to assemble a team of brilliant creatives and overseeing the filming and art direction for the project.
Glazer and Mica Levi’s concept was simple – “By Children, For Children” – with his team handing the cameras over to children in order to see the world through their eyes and serve as a constant reminder of the reason for the endeavor to the audience and all involved.
Each child operated their own small camera and was invited into the studios to film the artists recording without any restrictions. In addition, Glazer’s team worked with fixers and filmmakers in Ukraine, Gaza, Yemen and Sudan to gather footage filmed by children on the ground in these conflict zones. The results are a stunning piece of work that, ultimately, connects the album to the children the music seeks to help.
James Ford reflected on the experience of making the new collection of songs.
“I felt incredibly honoured when War Child asked me to work on HELP(2). The original HELP meant a lot to me and to have the opportunity, given the current news cycle, to help galvanize our music community into doing something as unarguably positive as helping children in war zones seemed like a no brainer.
“The experience of making the album itself has been very powerful, and dare I say life affirming for me personally, against the backdrop of a very difficult year. I’m extremely proud of the results and of the efforts made by all involved. I can’t wait for people to hear this very special record.”
The first song from the recoding session has just been released, and its a track from The Artic Monkeys who created a new song Opening Night in the studio alongside Flood.
