War Child celebrates the tenth edition of their Secret 7” Record Auction with an impressive list of artists set to participate. The seven artists apart of the auction are John Lennon, The Last Dinner Party, Gabrielle, Skin, The Maccabees, Glass Animals and Bastille.
Each artist will donate a track to the project which will pressed just 100 times each, creating 700 unique 7” records. Additionally, artists, designers and illustrators from around the globe will be called to design special sleeves for each track, making every record and one-of-a-kind collectible. The 700 unique sleeve designs will be on display at London’s 180 Studios from August 18-30, 2026 and available to purchase via online auction running until September 2, 2026.
Buyers may make guesses based on the sleeve artwork as to which vinyl they will receive, but the track remains a mystery until it is purchased.
All of the proceeds from the auction will go towards War Child’s work delivering mental health support, emergency aid and protection to children and families in areas of conflict across 13 countries. Previously, the Secret 7” Auction has raised more than £900,000 for War Child’s efforts.
John Lennon will be donating his track ‘Out of the Blue’ from the 1973 ‘Mind Games’ album. While The Last Dinner Party will contribute their single, ‘Let’s Do It Again!’ which was featured on the recently released ‘Help (2)’ compilation album from War Child. Gabrielle has given her 2001 hit, ‘Out of Reach.’ And fans of The Maccabees will be excited to hear their 2009 track, ‘No Kind Words’ will be apart of the auction. It will be the song’s first standalone physical release. In a post announcing their contribution, the band encouraged fans to submit artwork for the auction saying their “work will be a missing part of [their] catalogue.”
Also on the line up is ‘Purple’ from Skin’s 2006 album ‘Fake Chemical State.’ Glass Animals will be giving ‘Take a Slice’ to the project, from their 2016 album ‘How to Be a Human Being’ and still, one of the band’s most-streamed songs. And Bastille will contribute ‘Hope For The Future’ a track originally penned for a climate emergency documentary about wildfires which ravaged Portugal in 2017, From the Devil’s Breath.
Artwork submissions for the sleeves are open now on the Secret 7” website. Parameters for submissions are wide, artists are encouraged to submit whatever they like, so long as it is a piece inspired by their interpretation of one of the seven songs on the project. Submissions will close 1 June 2026 at 11:59 PM GMT.
Charlotte Nimmo, War Child’s fundraising and engagement director described the urgency of the 2026 Auction, “right now over 520 million children have had their lives impacted by conflict worldwide. The need has never been so great and it is increasing daily.” She continued, saying she hopes the 10th Secret 7” project will “offer music and art fans something truly unique to take home that brings them joy when they see and listen, and know that they helped have a tangible impact on children’s lives in the process.”
Listen to all seven tracks included in the project here.
