James Ford, producer of War Child’s upcoming ‘Help(2)’ album, says some artists refused to be involved as they thought it was “too political”.
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The collaborative album, inspired by the landmark 1995 ‘HELP’ record for War Child, comes out on March 6 – you can pre-order here. Produced and stewarded by Ford (Arctic Monkeys, Gorillaz, Florence + The Machine, Blur, Pet Shop Boys), ‘HELP(2)’ was recorded through “a close collaboration with Abbey Road Studios” mostly during one week in November 2025.
So far, the album has been previewed by one track – ‘Opening Night’ by Arctic Monkeys, which also marks their first new song in four years. Now, in a new interview with the Guardian, Ford has said that some artists declined to be a part of the album out of fear that it was too political.
War Child was first set up in 1993 by filmmakers David Wilson and Bill Leeson, who had seen the effects of war in the former Yugoslavia first-hand. The 1995 ‘Help’ record saw the charity gain mass exposure and generated a significant increase in donations.
The decision to make a new album came from the severity of the crises in Gaza, Sudan, Ukraine and Syria.
“Obviously, a lot of people I know and I’ve worked with were easy targets, so we started with them: Fontaines DC, Arctic Monkeys, Depeche Mode, Gorillaz, Pulp and people like that,” Ford told the publication.
He went on to say that curating the record was “actually a great insight into the industry: which people are willing to do something. People who you’d think would be into it flat-out refused because they saw it as too political or something like that. It was fascinating.”
Alongside Alex Turner and co’s first material since 2022’s ‘The Car‘, the album also features Anna Calvi, Arlo Parks, Arooj Aftab, Bat For Lashes, Beabadoobee, Beck, Portishead‘s Beth Gibbons, Big Thief, Black Country, New Road, Cameron Winter, Blur’s Damon Albarn and Graham Coxon, Depeche Mode, Dove Ellis, Wolf Alice‘s Ellie Rowsell, English Teacher, Ezra Collective, Foals, Fontaines D.C. and frontman Grian Chatten, Greentea Peng, Kae Tempest, King Krule, Nilüfer Yanya, Olivia Rodrigo, Pulp, Sampha, The Last Dinner Party, Wet Leg, The Smiths‘ icon Johnny Marr and Young Fathers.
However, shortly after being asked to lead the project, Ford was diagnosed with leukaemia. He told the Guardian that he was in the ICU during the week of recording sessions “with a pipe coming out of my fucking neck.”
“But because of technology, I could actually be in hospital, on my laptop, listening to what they were doing on the desk,” he added. “I could press the space bar and talk to everyone’s headphones, so I was remotely producing a lot of the tracks.
“Olivia Rodrigo was singing live with strings and I was talking to her: ‘That was great, but try another take.’ I was having a blood transfusion at the time.”
Rumours of the album started to circulate online earlier this month when War Child Records teased a new project with “a group of artists who are working on something important” – with Arctic Monkeys, Damon Albarn, English Teacher, Young Fathers, Fontaines D.C. and producer James Ford among those following their Instagram page and sharing the news.
It was then confirmed that a new song from Alex Turner and co would be the first to arrive from the album.
Arctic Monkeys’ drummer Matt Helders has since spoken about the band’s decision to return for the track, saying: “If people are talking about it then they’re talking about War Child, and that’s kind of the point in this. I think everyone involved feels like that a little bit.”
Foals have also shared a teaser for ‘When The War Is Finally Done’, their track from the upcoming LP.
The record follows more than 30 years from the original and legendary Brian Eno-led 1995 ‘Help’ album that featured Oasis, Blur, Radiohead, Orbital, Portishead, Massive Attack, Suede, Sinéad O’Connor, Manic Street Preachers, The Boo Radleys and more.
That album raised over £1.25million and sold over 700,000 copies, and was followed by other charity records including 2002’s ‘1 Love’, 2003’s ‘Hope’, 2005’s ‘Help!: A Day in the Life’ and 2009’s ‘War Child Presents Heroes’. The charity works to protect, educate, and support the mental health of children affected by war – and comes at a time of conflicts in Palestine, Ukraine, Sudan, Syria and beyond.
The original ‘Help’ charity album was reissued and made available on streaming platforms in 2020 to celebrate its 25th anniversary. In October last year, it was then reissued again, this time as a limited, numbered 7” single boxed set in celebration of it turning 30.
As well as releasing new music under War Child Records, BRITs Week 2026 will also be returning this year, and see big names play intimate gigs to help raise awareness and funds for the charity.
The shows take place in the run-up to the BRIT Awards, and this year’s performers include Fatboy Slim, Myles Smith, Lambrini Girls and more. Visit here to sign up for any remaining tickets.