According to a post last week on r/arcticmonkeys, the band will feature on a new version of War Child’s legendary 1995 Help record with a song “that was unfinished during the AM recording… and after that, they are done,” as declared by the commenter on Reddit – whose credibility stems from leaking news of the Oasis tour months in advance of announcement.
James Ford, who has worked on all but one of the band’s studio albums – including 2013’s AM – has also been linked to production on a new Help album as far back as last summer and earlier this week shared a post from War Child teasing at what sounds very much like the record in question… and then earlier today the Arctic Monkeys’ Instagram account shared the same post.
“The end is near guys :(” posted one fan on the band’s sub-Reddit. Arctic Monkeys hasn’t put out any new music since 2022’s The Car, with drummer Matt Helders – who has also shared the Warchild post – busy with a solo project alongside Mini Mansions vocalist Tyler Parkford.
Fans are also speculating on who else could be involved. The War Child Records instagram currently follows just 13 other accounts: Arctic Monkeys, Pulp, Beck, Damon Albarn, Fontaines D.C., Graham Coxon, Kae Tempest, Arooj Aftab, Young Fathers, The Last Dinner Party and English Teacher; James Ford is the only producer followed.
War Child are the only specialist charity for children affected by conflict and work to ensure a safe future for every child living through war. They were founded in 1993 by filmmakers David Wilson and Bill Leeson, along with social entrepreneur Willemijn Verloop, who were horrified by the violence and ethnic cleansing they witnessed in Bosnia.
The original Help record released in 1995 was inspired by John Lennon who, around the release of 1970’s “Instant Karma”, said, “The best record you can make is recorded on a Monday, cut on Tuesday, pressed up on Wednesday, packaged on a Thursday, distributed on Friday, in the shops on Saturday…”.
The album was mastered by Brian Eno with artwork from John Squire, and cut in just a single day, with the likes of Oasis, Blur, Radiohead, Portishead, Massive Attack, Suede, Sinéad O’Connor and Manic Street Preachers involved. It raised more than £1.25million for the charity.
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