‘90s British pop-rockers Pulp have today announced a new single from an upcoming charity album ‘Help(2)’, pioneered by the charity War Child. The track, ‘Begging for Change’, was released this morning and features several backing singers from across the indie and alternative rock world.
The track is in many ways reminiscent of their new wave work in 1980s Sheffield, and a far cry from the glitzy pop of their ‘90s output. Layers of synth work and vocal effects combine alongside a jangly guitar riff and singer Jarvis Cocker’s usually cynical and political lyrics. In the chorus, Cocker is joined by several other artists working on the album in a spelt out rendition of ‘B-E-G-G-I-N-G’. These include Blur’s Damon Alburn, Kae Tempest and Irish indie sensations Fontaines D.C. ‘s Grian Chatten among others.
Since the track’s release, Cocker has confirmed that the track was initially intended for last year’s Pulp release, ‘More’. “Sometimes a song needs a purpose”, the frontman said. “Like all the other 22 songs on the ‘Help’ album, ‘Begging For Change’ is designed to raise money to help children living in war zones around the world. This only works if you buy/download/stream it.” This is not Pulp’s first dalliance with War Child, having donated £25,000 in prize money to them in 1996 when picking up the Mercury Prize. This time, Cocker said, “we have given more. How much more? You’ll have to wait and see.”
This is War Child’s sixth charity album over the last twenty-one years. Each has featured contemporary leading artists performing either originals or covers. The first, ‘The Help Album’, released in 1995, featured Oasis, Blur and Terrorvision among many others. Since then, War Child’s albums have included tracks from The Prodigy, Muse, George Michael and Radiohead. This album will include contributions from Sheffield altrockers Arctic Monkeys, solo artist King Krule, British indie rock duo Wet Leg and American pop singer Olivia Rodrigo. Arctic Monkeys released the album’s first single, ‘Opening Night’, released on 22 January. In releasing the track, Arctic Monkeys said that “when [producer] James Ford called and asked if we’d contribute to the HELP(2) album we set out to work on a song idea and assembled in Abbey Road to record it. We are proud to support the invaluable work War Child does, and hope the record will make a positive difference to the lives of children affected by war.”
An accompanying film will come with the album, the work of documentarian Jonathan Glazer, which will be a combination of studio and war footage from Gaza, Sudan, Yemen and Ukraine. War Child’s focus is on the children impacted in conflict zones. Producer James Ford has previously worked with many of the artists also on the album, and will be released on 6 March.
