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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.

On The Beach is a series of summer day concerts run with British station Radio X, all set on a giant stage on Brighton Beach. Past iterations have brought the likes of Royal Blood and Noel Gallagher in 2023, The Kooks and The Libertines in 2024, and both Kaiser Chiefs and Bloc Party last year. For this July, the other events cover ska and electronic music, with Madness on the 24th and Moby on the 26th, while Fatboy Slim is booked for three shows in his spiritual home across the 17th, 18th and 19th. The Maccabees, who play the biggest night of music in this years event on the 25th of July, chose to split and send the band off with a farewell tour in 2017, but returned for live shows starting with Glastonbury and a headline set at All Points East last year.

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The full lineup was announced yesterday on Dan O’Connell’s Evening Show on Radio X, as he sat down to chat with co-host Felix White, guitarist for The Maccabees. Under its former name XFM London, the station was the first to promote the group before their breakthrough, and Brighton was the place where they initially rose to prominence. Prior to the news, White was asked whether there might be new music in the pipeline for the band, to which he responded cautiously “it’s not a no at the moment.”

The day opens with local indie quartet Lime Garden, before singer-songwriter Damon Gough, better known as Badly Drawn Boy plays. Northern Irish cult classic rock band Ash take to the stage third, before the incredibly talented singer-songwriter Anna Calvi makes her appearance. Miles Kane is next up, bringing his captivating solo show, and Editors fill the penultimate set with their brand of darker post-punk. Finally The Maccabees close the night with what will most definitely be another emotional, long-awaited headline set.

Radio X On The Beach with The Maccabees runs from 1PM to 10:30PM on Saturday the 25th of July at Brighton Beach. The new wave of tickets go on pre-sale on Tuesday the 31st of March, with a sign-up link here. The Maccabees play On The Beach as part of a UK tour with tickets for other dates here. You can find the full tour dates below:

• 06/07 – Corn Exchange, Edinburgh
• 07/07 – O2 City Hall, Newcastle
• 09/07 – Alexandra Palace Park, London
• 11/07 – Eden Project, St Austell
• 23/07 – Bristol Amphitheatre & Waterfront Square, Bristol
• 23/07-26/07 – Truck Festival 2026, Abingdon
• 25/07 – Brighton Beach, Brighton
• 31/07 – Kirkstall Abbey, Leeds

The Maccabees initially disbanded in 2017, with members pursuing individual creative projects. At the time, the split was regarded as one of the most noteworthy in recent music memory. However, the group surprised fans with news of their reunion late last year, followed by their first live performance in over half a decade on 20 June at The Dome in London. The show was held in support of the MS Society and marked the start of a short run of intimate warm-up gigs across Europe.

The band made their full-scale festival return at Glastonbury 2025 with a headline set on the Park Stage, closing out the weekend. The appearance was their first at Glastonbury in a decade and their sixth time performing at Worthy Farm.

Their setlist featured fan favourites from across their discography, including “Pelican,” “Precious Time,” and “X-Ray.” They opened with early single “Latchmere,” immediately setting an energetic tone for the emotional and celebratory set.

A highlight of the evening came when Florence Welch of Florence + The Machine joined the band on stage for a rendition of “Love You Better.” In a surprise moment, The Maccabees then sang the backing vocals to Welch on her own hit “Dog Days Are Over,” sending the crowd into a frenzy.

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In a five-star review, NME described the performance as “one of The Maccabees’ most euphoric shows,” praising the band’s energy and the evident joy on stage. “There are few things more joyful than witnessing White grinning ear to ear as he hypes up the crowd between songs” the review read, noting that “Frontman Orlando Weeks, meanwhile, looks happier than ever, joining his bandmate in some rare instances of geeing up the crowd and looking truly appreciative of the moment.

Following their Glastonbury comeback, The Maccabees will continue their reunion with a series of UK summer dates, culminating in a headline performance at All Points East Festival in Victoria Park later this year. Tickets to their upcoming shows can be accessed here.

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The performance on 20 June will be a comeback from their eight year hiatus after splitting at the peak of their career in 2016. The gig will have a capacity of only 300, organised by Hugo and Felix White. With Dork Magazine, Felix had this to say: “This show means a lot to us as MS is a cause close to our hearts. When we knew the band were getting back together, we really wanted to do something again to support the MS Society.”

Hugo added, “Our mum had MS so we know the devastating effect it can have on young people and families. We’ve always done what we can to raise awareness and funds for the MS Society, and we’re delighted to be able to put on this show.”

The band have worked closely with the MS Society for years with the White brothers becoming MS Society Ambassadors in 2016. They announced their return in October 2024 with the news of their upcoming headline performance at All Points East on 24 August.  

 

 

 

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The Maccabees broke up at their “creative peak” after 14 years of working together and achieving their highest charting 2015 album ‘Marks To Prove It’, which spent 10 weeks at Number one on the UK Official Albums Charts. Upon announcing the reunion, the band spoke with Radio X about how it came to be, stating “it’s been kinda delicately being approached for the last year or so”.

@themaccabeesband Who’s gonna say it first? #themaccabees @Radio X ♬ original sound – The Maccabees

At their first rehearsal after reuniting, they performed their widely loved singles ‘Love You Better’, ‘Lego’ and ‘X-Ray’ for NME, sharing that “It’s felt to me like no time has passed,”. 

 The band have many standout tracks, including the acoustic, floaty romance single ‘Toothpaste Kisses’, which has amassed over 100 million listens on Spotify.

The intimate London gig will have tickets available to buy on a ballot. Entry to the ballot opened yesterday (20 May) with £5 entry and will close on 2 June. They will also be embarking on a UK and Ireland tour in August with support from Sorry. Tickets are available on their website.

Fans noticed a gap in the band’s summer schedule around the Glastonbury dates (June 25-29, 2025), leading to rumours of a potential secret set. Glastonbury is known for its unannounced performances by iconic acts, making this theory plausible. The reunion also celebrates the 20th anniversary of their debut single, ‘X-Ray’.

GRASSMONSTER SAYS: Indie darlings The Maccabees, long thought lost to time, have risen from the ashes for a headlining gig at All Points East this summer.

Fans, still aglow with reunion fever, are speculating wildly about a secret Glastonbury set.

If true, it would be the…

— ®©Grassmonster (@grassmonster) January 9, 2025

The Maccabees were a prominent indie-rock band from London, formed in 2004. Known for their energetic sound, emotionally charged lyrics, and compelling live performances, the band played a key role in the UK indie scene throughout the 2000s and 2010s. The band released four critically acclaimed albums before disbanding in 2017. Their recent reunion has reignited nostalgia among fans and curiosity about what’s next for the band.

‘X-Ray’ was the debut single by The Maccabees, released in 2005. The track introduced the band’s energetic indie-rock sound and its playful and raw edge set the tone for their early work. Although ‘X-Ray’ did not make a significant impact on the UK Singles Chart, it garnered critical acclaim and underground popularity. It helped the band build momentum, leading to a dedicated fanbase and their subsequent breakthrough. The Maccabees achieved more notable chart success with later singles, particularly after the release of their second and third albums, ‘Wall Of Arms‘ (2009) and ‘Given To The Wild‘ (2012)

The Maccabees are set to headline All Points East in Victoria Park, London, on Sunday, August 24, 2025. This performance marks their first show in eight years and coincides with the 10th anniversary of their final album, ‘Marks To Prove It’. The band has handpicked a stellar lineup of supporting acts for the festival, which includes Bombay Bicycle Club, Dry Cleaning, The Cribs, and more. These acts are known for their unique sounds and connections to the indie-rock scene, adding to the excitement surrounding The Maccabees’ comeback.

Whether the band will take to one of Glastonbury’s famous stages remains unconfirmed, but anticipation is high for a possible surprise return to the festival where they’ve performed memorable sets in the past. The band seems to be the most active on their X account, where you can follow them for more updates.

Felix White took to his Instagram the day after the show on Friday to make the official announcement, saying “I’ve been making a record with my brothers and the brilliant Jamie Morrison for the past few years. It’s taken a second, but we are finally happy with what our new band is ….” Posting some footage from the show in conjunction with the message he went on to say “Yesterday we played the songs for the first time to a room full of friends and family at Omeara. It was a really, really good time. I’d forgotten how much I missed it. Thank you to everyone there. At some point this year there will be the first recorded music and gigs .. we’re really looking forward to sharing it all with you. The band is called @86tvs”

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The Maccabees split back in 2017 having been together for 14 years and released 4 full length albums. They were an essential and influential ingredient to the explosion of indie rock that happened in the UK during the 2000’s and 2010’s and won several awards for their music during their time together, including an Ivor Novello Award for Best Contemporary Song “Pelican” on their third album Given To The Wild.

In a statement at the time of their split, the band said “There have not been fallings out and we are grateful to say that we are not leaving the group as a dividing force“. Since then members of the band have had success enjoying other pursuits in music. Ex-lead singer Orlando Weeks has had great success as a solo artist and novelist, releasing his debut book The Gritterman with an accompanying soundtrack to great critical acclaim. Elsewhere, Felix White has been enjoying cultural success in many different facets, including hosting the popular cricket podcast It’s Always Summer Somewhere, setting up his own record label Yala!, and contributing to the soundtracks of John McEnroe biopic McEnroe and cricket documentary The Edge. Hugo White hasn’t spent much time twiddling his thumbs either, with a recent appearance playing guitar for Jamie T on the John Peel Stage at last months Glastonbury Festival.

86tvs must therefore be quite the project if it’s getting these busy bees to divide their time even more. We’ll be keeping our eyes peeled and ears primed for any updates..

Proposing that the artistic process had “just run out of steam a bit,” Weeks reviews the band’s successes up to that point and questions whether there was any further to go. “It felt like we’d made such good strides with ‘Given to the Wild’,” he says, appraising the band’s third album, “and that maybe we had not moved on as far again with ‘Marks to Prove It’, and we’d been doing it for a very, very, very long time.”

Deflecting the question posed to him by interviewer Mark Beaumont if it was his idea for the band to split, Weeks said, “It was everyone knowing that that was what was going to happen. We’d had a difficult time making that final record and we’d reached the end of the line.”

Meanwhile, moving forward, Weeks’s debut solo album A Quickening is set for release in just two days’ time (June 12th). An impending release he again promoted today with a tweet on his official Twitter page, @OrlandoWeeks, this Friday also marks the singer’s upcoming live session for record label Banquet Records. Broadcasting at 19:30 GMT, he’ll be “singing a bunch of songs” from the new album.

Very pleased to announce on Friday you can view a session I’m doing for @BanquetRecords. I’ll be singing a bunch of songs from ‘A Quickening’. For those who would like to join me, you can find more details here https://t.co/9mc9ioBHPF pic.twitter.com/Mk0S8ogPjR

— Orlando Weeks (@OrlandoWeeks) June 10, 2020

The album’s earlier single “Milk Breath” had dropped in mid-May of this year, a song inspired by the birth of his son and the experience of watching him sleep. As he beautifully put it at the time, quoted in an NME article covering the new track, “When you’ve rocked him for 45 minutes and finally the wriggling has stopped and the muscles have relaxed and you put him down in slow motion and then stand, without breathing for another 20 minutes praying that he’s asleep.”

An absolute delight. That and more to look forward to, then.

The tour, entitled, ‘Live For The Last Time: The Farewell Shows’, will consist of three dates beginning on the 28^th of June at Manchester’s O2 Apollo before the band will play two nights at London’s Alexandra Palace on June 30^th and July 1^st.

After 14 years in the business the band announced in August that they would be no more, saying in a statement: ‘The decision has obviously been an incredibly difficult one, given that The Maccabees has been such a huge part of our lives until now.  We are very proud to be able to go out on our own terms, at our creative peak and off the back of the best and biggest shows we have ever done.’ The announcement came as a shock to many following the success of the band’s 2015 album ‘Marks To Prove It’ and the memorable headline set they played at Latitude festival, although in their statement the band did shed some light on this, commenting that, ‘there have not been fallings out and we are grateful to say that we are not leaving the group behind as a divided force. It has been a rare and absolutely incredible time that we all feel very lucky to have shared.’ Indeed, the statement looked forward to today’s announcement, saying ‘There will be some farewell celebration shows announced in the near future.’

Following this announcement, the band will obviously have three more shows to leave as their legacy. Felix White said of the gigs, via Clash, ‘We’re planning on these final shows being a huge celebration, thank you and goodbye to 14 years of writing, recording, playing and touring together.’ Judging by the band’s August statement, though, this will only be goodbye to The Maccabees and not goodbye to music for the band’s members, who say, ‘Though there are no concrete plans at this stage, we are all planning to continue making music. We are excited about the future and intend to move on, with some sadness, but with appreciation, affection and huge pride at the music we have made and all that we have achieved together.’ In an interview with NME frontman Orlando Weeks said he thinks he’ll still be making music when he’s 50 because of his love for writing while Felix White said he ‘definitely’ would, adding, ‘I dunno in what capacity, but I absolutely think it’s something I won’t get bored with and give up. The Maccabees has taught me that if you really want to, you can do something that excites you and that you’re interested in. You can make anything happen.’ It therefore very much remains to be seen what the future holds for these lads from London who’ve come a long way already.

Tickets will go on sale at 9am on Friday, 9^th December so get up and online early if you want to catch this slice of music history.

The full dates are as follows:

28/6 – O2 Apollo – Manchester

30/6 – Alexandra Palace – London

1/7 – Alexandra Palace – London

This will be The Maccabees’ first festival headline. Last year their fourth album Marks to Prove It reached number one. The London indie group are to headline Friday night 15/7 in between performances at Benicassim 2016 – Spain 14 -17/7. They are also playing Ahmad Tea Fest – Moscow – Russia – 16/6.

New Order are keeping themselves very busy by further announcing their headline in September’s Electric Picnic in Ireland alongside LCD Soundsystem, Lana Del Ray and The Chemical Brothers. See their Twitter page for their busy schedule: https://twitter.com/neworder?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor

American rockers The National announced their Latitude headline via Facebook:

We will be headlining the Latitude Festival in Suffolk’s Henham Park on the 16th of July! ‪#‎Latitude16 ticket info can be found at http://bit.ly/1SkzSw2

Last year’s Latitude Festival was a summer success and are keen to promote family involvement:

Thank you for joining us for an incredible 2015 edition of Latitude. Want to re-live the memories, or interested in what makes Latitude such a great festival for families? Check out our family area pages!

Below is Saturday’s line up at the main stage Obelisk Arena. For full festival details and the full, extensive line up for every stage, visit: http://www.latitudefestival.com/