Behind-the-scenes footage of Olivia Rodrigo, Pulp and Arctic Monkeys recording charity album

Damon Albarn stood in the doorway of the Abbey Road canteen, deep in conversation with Carl Barat of The Libertines.

Nearby, Pulp was queuing up for a fresh batch of lasagna.

Around them, six kids were running around, filming everything with handheld cameras.

All of them awaited Olivia Rodrigo’s arrival with excitement.

That’s the scene in London last November, when some of the world’s biggest stars came together to record a new charity album in aid of Warchild.

The tracklist released yesterday is like a who’s who of indie rock. Wet Leg, The Last Supper, Wolf Alice, Fontaines DC, Nilüfer Yanya, Cameron Winter, Ezra Collective, Foals and Young Fathers all contributed.

In one week, 23 tracks were recorded. At times, all five of Abbey Road’s famous studios were in use and collaborations sprang up.

Blur’s Graham Coxon plays guitar with Rodrigo on a cover of The Magnetic Fields’ “The Book Of Love”. Damon Albarn played, was joined by Johnny Marr on guitar, and Kae Tempest and Grian Chatten also sang on vocals.

Later that day, Jarvis Cocker came back from a bathroom break and found them all in his studio, so he had them sing the intro to a new sleazy song, “Begging For Change.”

“It just came out, so I thought, ‘Why not?'” he said with a laugh. “I’m not used to this kind of thing, but it’s really nice.”

The album is the spiritual successor to 1995’s Help! – Recorded at the height of Britpop, including contributions from Paul Weller, Radiohead, Suede, Paul McCartney, The KLF, Portishead and The Manic Street Preachers.

Famously, it was also the only time Oasis and Blur appeared on the same record, just months after their legendary (and intense) chart battle.

“We will put aside our differences for this cause,” Noel Gallagher said at the time. “This is the only time you’ll see us agree on anything.”

The record sold 70,000 copies in its first week and raised nearly £1.25 million to help children in war-torn areas such as Bosnia and Herzegovina.

In 2025, raising funds is even more urgent. According to Warchild, 520 million children worldwide – almost one in five – are affected by war, with simultaneous crises erupting in Ukraine, Sudan and Gaza.

That number is higher than at any time since World War II, and comes as governments around the world cut international aid.

“It does seem like there’s a lot of bad things happening right now and a lot of people feel powerless,” Coker said.

“They’re watching the news and they don’t know what to do. So I hope this is an album that people can enjoy and know that they’re trying to make positive change.”

The first single released on Thursday is a new song from Arctic Monkeys called Opening Night.

It’s a sparse and sinister ballad, with Alex Turner singing political slogans and “supercomputer crusades” before a beautifully harmonious chorus, delivering a message of hope in dark times.

Drummer Matt Helders told the BBC that the song dates back several years but was never completed.

Getting a call from Warchild was the prompt they needed to finish the song, with the lyrics feeling like a call to arms.

“With a charity record, it’s often tempting to do a cover or a fun collaboration,” he says, “but we love making records and being in the studio, so it’s fun to do what we write.”

What’s even more interesting is that the children on the film crew, mainly between the ages of 8 and 10, recorded the entire recording process.

They have been brought together by BAFTA award-winning director Jonathan Glazer (Beast, Under the Skin, Interest Zone), who hopes to reconnect music with the young people it can help.

“They were free to hang out and it really changed the atmosphere,” Heldes said.

“Sometimes, the studio can be a pretty stiff, clinical environment. But they’re walking around and bumping into things. It’s fun.”

Kirk isn’t so sure.

“I hate having anyone in the studio watching me sing because I’m a self-conscious person and having a camera pointed at me doesn’t help that,” he said.

“While I was singing in there, I thought they were a little bored, so they were like lying on the floor shooting the ceiling.”

Eventually, he found his children’s presence liberating. Their complete lack of interest led him to abandon the idea that a studio recording must capture the “perfect, final version” of a song.

As such, Pulp’s contribution to Help 2 – Begging For Change – has a loose live band feel that really embodies the album’s spontaneity and sense of community.

In fact, the young film crew even recorded it.

“It’s a funny thing, you know, because kids are always told, ‘Shut up, because I’m thinking,’ or ‘Shh, your dad’s hungover,'” he said.

“So when they get a chance to make a sound, they do it. So what we’re trying to do in the song is make them scream, and they do that really well.”

You won’t be able to hear the song until Help 2 is released on March 6th. With labels and pressing plants offering their services free of charge, the album will be cheaper than a standard album – a double vinyl set will cost around £26 – while Warchild keeps all the profits.

“We found this project really lit a fire in the creative community,” said Rich Clarke, the charity’s director of music. “A lot of people want to be involved.”

He let slip that the album’s 23 tracks weren’t the only products of the week-long recording process.

“When people heard about the project, there was a whole bunch of tracks, maybe 10 or so. So actually the team made some tough decisions about what to put on the record.”

But Olivia Rodrigo’s song – about the purity of love – was always designated as the ending song.

“It’s a very beautiful cover,” Clark said.

“The album really takes you on a journey with some powerful themes around conflict, but Olivia leaves you with a song about the redemptive power of love that has a truly poignant final note”.