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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.”

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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 10^th 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.

Forming in 1994, before disbanding in 2001 and reuniting in 2009, Skunk Anansie have a vast catalogue featuring sixth studio albums (two of which making it into the top 10) and are notorious for their sonic soundscapes comprised of groundbreaking instrumentals, bold vocals and relatable lyricism which amalgamate components of rock, punk and metal.

In the interview, Skin paid homage to an eclectic range of the group’s discography before discussing ‘An Artist Is An Artist’, including: ‘Weak’, ‘Hedonism (Just Because You Feel Good)’, ‘Charli Big Potato’, ‘Without You’ and ‘Piggy’.

The artist pinpointed the COVID pandemic as a moment in time which urged the group to analyse their sound and their future. Contextualising the moment ‘An Artist Is An Artist’ was created from a recording and notes app entry in her phone, Skin revealed: “We lost our manager who retired, and there was a point where we had to say, ‘well do we carry on or not?’ I don’t think bands have to carry on […] it’s quite good when they feel that they’ve got nothing more to say as a band then just stop. I think we had that conversation and when we put that song [‘An Artist Is An Artist’] together that showed us we had the ability to still be great”.

According to Skin, ‘An Artist Is An Artist’ signalled a new direction for Skunk Anansie and set a precedent for the style and standard of their future music. When speaking about the track and the band’s mindset during it’s creation the ‘Secretly’ vocalist referenced a particular perspective of what it means to be an artist during a time of social media, constant “toxic negativity” and having “everything you’re about henpecked and stripped down and destroyed” by passive critics.

Knowing the track was bound to be picked apart by critics, ‘An Artist Is An Artist’ is flooded with playful lyricism, which Skin describes as “cheeky lines” to sum up Skunk Anansie’s thoughts on being a band in a modern world. Skin pinpointed the lyrics: “An artist is an artist ‘til death do us depart-est” and carefully conducted tongue twister, “an artist is an artest when they wanna be anarchic ‘cos the narcissist in artist is beautiful” within the track.

Skin went on to rightfully respond to critics: “we are the creators […] and sometimes you guys need to shut the f*ck up and enjoy or not enjoy it. But you don’t need to come and destroy the artist and try and take something away from the artist. You don’t need to put your first ignorant thought and write that down as a comment”.

The rock vocalist’s thoughts follow a distaste for loud critics that comment on a piece of art without having the knowledge, done the research or taken the time to understand the depth of the art before branding it as “terrible” or “awful”.

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Putting critics into their place, Skin responded: “If I was in a room with you, I wouldn’t have to listen to you I would just destroy you”.

The frontman of Skunk Anansie has set the record straight following the release of ‘An Artist Is An Artist’, setting the right atmosphere in the run up to the group’s upcoming tour this spring and summer. Tickets can be purchased here.

The video for ‘This Means War’ features live footage of the group on stage at Pol’and’Rock festival, last year, where the band headlined. The powerful track has been described as “a super-charged, rallying anthem with vocal powerhouse Skin’s fiery and provocative lyrics commanding you to sit up and listen.”

Speaking to Kerrang, where the video premiered, Skin said: “We wrote this track just before we went on tour last summer, it totally stood out as a fan favourite and never left the setlist. So we’re really happy to release a finished version produced by the magnificent Tom Dalgety. Enjoy!”

The release of new material comes ahead of the iconic rock band’s UK headline tour, which will see them hit venues across the UK throughout 2020. The quartet will kick start their tour, in Norwich before visiting venues across the UK including Sheffield, Birmingham, Guildford, Leicester, Folkestone, Lincoln, Nottingham, Glasgow Newcastle, Leeds, Cardiff, Bristol, Manchester, and Brighton, before concluding, in Cambridge.

We’re so excited to announce we’ll be playing at @meltdownfest this year, curated by living legend Grace Jones! Make sure you grab your tickets at https://t.co/vpzyLb9rhw from Friday 14th February! Don’t miss it, this is gonna be something really special #meltdownfest pic.twitter.com/PArFh8v8ow

— Skunk Anansie (@SkunkAnansie) February 10, 2020

The news of the UK headline tour comes after the announcement that the band will be performing at this year’s Meltdown Festival, at South Bank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall, in London, on June 18 2020. Members of Southbank Centre can get access to tickets from Wednesday 12 February 2020 and general sale tickets are available from Friday 14 February 2020, and tickets can be purchased here.

Skunk Anansie’s latest track, ‘This Means War’, follows the release of, ‘What You Do For Love’, which was released last year and was the band’s first release of new music in three years. Both tracks will be part of a limited run of ‘collector’s edition’ double A-side vinyl, which will be released in April 2020.

The recent announcements come after Skunk Anansie frontwomen, Skin blew audiences away with her voice, while on ITV’s hit show ‘The Masked Singer’. Skin belted out renditions of ‘Ave Maria’, Madonna’s ‘Like A Virgin’, Stormzy’s ‘Blinded By Your Grace’, and ‘My Heart Will Go On’ by Celine Dion, all the while she was dressed in a hilarious duck costume.

The full dates the Skunk Anansie’s UK headline tour 2020 can be found below. Tickets for the UK headline tour are available now and can be purchased here.

Skunk Anansie UK Headline Tour Dates 2020:

17/06/2020 – The LCR UEA – Norwich
18/06 – Meltdown Festival, Southbank Centre – London
19/06 – O2 Academy – Sheffield
20/06 – O2 Academy 1 – Birmingham
26/09 – G Live – Guildford
27/09 – O2 Academy – Leicester
28/09 – Leas Cliff Hall – Folkestone
28/10 – The Engine Shed – Lincoln
29/10 – Rock City – Nottingham
01/12 – O2 Academy – Glasgow
02/12 – O2 Academy – Newcastle
03/12- O2 Academy – Leeds
05/12 – Cardiff University – Cardiff
06/12 – O2 Academy – Bristol
07/12 – O2 Victoria Warehouse – Manchester
09/12 – Brighton Dome – Brighton
10/12 – Corn Exchange – Cambridge