It’s been 30 years since international charity War Child first released their historic fundraising album ‘Help’. Now, due to a cryptic new social media account, suspense is mounting for an exciting new iteration which may or may not be under development.
War Child, who were founded to aid children suffering the after-effects of global conflicts, originated in 1993, when filmmakers David Wilson and Bill Leeson, alongside social entrepreneur Willemijn Verloop, travelled to what was then Yugoslavia during the civil war. Their website draws parallels to the current conflict in Ukraine, where Russia’s invasion has destroyed the lives of so many children and families.
In 1995, they united many of the biggest artists of the time to record ‘The HELP Album’. The record features performances by Paul McCartney, Oasis, Blur, Radiohead, and Paul Weller, as well as collaborative tracks involving several of the aforementioned stars. The album raised £1.25 million for the charity, and left a strong legacy, leading to sequel ‘Help! A Day In The Life’ to be released 10 years later in 2005. This time they brought through new talent, with the likes of Coldplay, Elbow, and Bloc Party joining up, while Blur’s Damon Albarn returned with then-new project Gorillaz.
Aside from other charity albums, War Child have also worked with artists to set up concerts to raise money and spread awareness. These shows were often timed to coincide with the BRIT Awards, where the spotlight would be most firmly on British music. Famous collaborators include Ed Sheeran, Muse, and Florence + The Machine. By far the biggest and most successful event was Arctic Monkeys’ 2018 show at the Royal Albert Hall. This night generated at least £250,000 for the charity, with the recording being released in 2020 also donating all proceeds to War Child.
Earlier this week, a mysterious new Instagram page, named “War Child Records” was created, posting one singular item – an announcement that “There is a group of artists who are working on something important in support of War Child.”
View this post on Instagram
Digging deeper, the account follows only 12 other profiles, most notably The Last Dinner Party, Fontaines D.C., Pulp, Beck, Damon Albarn, and Arctic Monkeys. Typically social media following can be used to infer some interesting things, for example here it suggests that these artists will be involved in this new project, with several of them being past alumni of other War Child projects. Also in the list is producer James Ford, who shared the post on his account, providing more evidence that he will be involved in the mix.
The band drawing particular attention from this development is Arctic Monkeys, who haven’t released new music since LP ‘The Car’ in 2022, and have mostly been flying under the radar since their Friday headline set at 2023’s Glastonbury Festival. With a fanbase desperate for any new material, their social media following have gone wild with anticipation since drummer Matt Helders shared the War Child Records post, a likely indicator of their involvement.
With the rumour mill churning away, War Child Records have shared a link on their page which when clicked, displays a message starting with “JANUARY 2026”, and a button to sign up to a newsletter for further announcements. Whether this will be a full LP, a relief concert or something else remains to be seen, but we may get an announcement before the end of the month.
