Not only a timely and topical milestone charity record following the first in 1995 to help bring aid and wide variety of support to children in war zones around he world, but an impressive double-LP array of stellar British and international talent and powerful, poignant 23 songs from Arctic Monkeys to Young Fathers. Mixing originals and covers across with a bonus Oasis live track, and involving super-producer James Ford, it’s a very impressive lineup, including also Anna Calvi, Arlo Parks, Arooj Aftab, Bat For Lashes, Beabadoobee, Beck, Beth Gibbons, Big Thief, Black Country New Road, Cameron Winter of Geese, Blur and Gorillaz’s Damon Albarn, Depeche Mode, Dove Ellis, Ellie Rowsell, English Teacher, Ezra Collective, Foals, Fontaines D.C. and separately their frontman Grian Chatten, Blur’s Graham Coxon, Greentea Peng, Kae Tempest, King Krule, Nilüfer Yanya, Olivia Rodrigo, Pulp, Sampha, The Last Dinner Party and Wet Leg. With ongoing wars in Africa, Ukraine, Gaza and now Iran, and beyond, it’s never been more important to support a charity that delivers immediate aid, education, specialist mental health support, and protection to children. It’s an album packed with highlight that indirectly or directly refer to conflict, from former Songs of the Day Opening Night by Arctic Monkeys and Flags by Albarn, Tempest and Chatten, the latter of which Tempest powerfully captures the perspective children with lines such as: “That's when the world got involved and I woke up older / With the flag of surrender draped across my shoulder / Remember before? When we cared about things like/ Who was the tallest, waiting 'round for the adults to stop talking / But they can't see past what absorbs them.”
There’s no padding or dud tracks to be found, every one carries weight in different ways. But key tracks include a telling rendition of Lilac Wine beautifully sung by Arooj Aftab (with Beck), Depeche Mode bringing their own style to Buffy Sainte-Marie’s telling, darkly ironic Universal Soldier, Ezra Collective and Greentea Peng’s defiant Helicopters (“Callin' all my brothers and sisters around the world / Fighting the oppressor, steadfast against the aggressors”), and with chilling the rise of the far right, Fontaines DC’s rendition of Black Boys on Mopeds (“England's not the mythical land of Madame George and roses / It's the home of police who kill black boys on mopeds”). There’s also a truly unique and striking delivery from Geese’s Cameron Winter on Warning, complete with with stabbing orchestral strings, a powerfully poignant numbers from Wet Leg going acoustic on Obvious, a thunderous Young Fathers with Don’t Fight the Young, Pulp’s pulsating indie pop on Begging For Change (“We are being strip-mined by the powers that be / We are being strip-mined by the new bourgeoisie”), the powerful voices of Anna Calvi, Ellie Rowsell, Nilüfer Yanya & Dove Ellis on Sunday Night, and the the gentle closer, a cover of Magnetic Fields’ The Book of Love from Olivia Rodrigo. Lengthy and various with so much more to enjoy, it’s a wonderful investment for a vital cause. HELP(2) can be bought directly from War Child here, or other usual outlets including Bandcamp.
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