Last month, we got our first preview of War Child Records’ forthcoming benefit album HELP(2) in the form of Arctic Monkeys’ first song in four years. A few days ago, a new promo clip showed Cameron Winter recording his contribution to the project, ‘Warning’, which isn’t out yet. What has been released today is an exciting collaboration between Blur/Gorillaz’s Damon Albarn, Fontaines D.C.’s Grian Chatten, and artist/poet Kae Tempest. It’s called ‘Flags’, and you can check it out below.
The new track was recorded at Abbey Road Studios with an all-star line-up including Johnny Marr, Portishead’s Adrian Utley, Ezra Collective’s Femi Koleoso, Dave Okumu, and Gorillaz bassist Seye Adele. There was also a 45-piece children’s choir and an all-star non-children’s choir comprising Marr, Jarvis Cocker, Carl Barat (The Libertines), Declan McKenna, Marika Hackman, Rosa Walton (Let’s Eat Grandma), English Teacher, Black Country, New Road, and Nadia Kadek.
“Recording ‘Flags’ was a genuinely joyful two days, with a strong sense of purpose throughout the building,” Albarn said in a press release. “I was particularly struck by the decision to employ children to do all the filming in the studio – it felt inspiring and directly reinforced the point we were trying to make about communicating with kids, by involving them in the process itself.”
Kae Tempest added: “I feel honoured to be a part of this project. I loved writing this song and collaborating with the other artists, it was like a fever dream that day at Abbey Road. Couldn’t believe how good it felt and the sheer force of will that shepherded all those energies together and directed them towards this beautiful conclusion. Me and Grian wrote our verses, responding to each other. We all worked together on Damon’s lyrics. Damon had the melody but kept the lyrics free so we could find them all together. It was a true collaboration. It’s a great album and I hope we can raise lots of funds and energy. For the children.”
“To be gifted the chance to collaborate with such talented artists as Damon and Kae in aid of such an important cause was really special,” Grian Chatten commented. “Not to mention all of the incredible musicians who helped bring the song to life on the day. It’s a rare occasion that you feel the energy for change in such a tangible way and from so many, but that is exactly how it felt in the room that day.”
A spiritual successor to the original HELP album, HELP(2) was primarily tracked in November 2025 with producer James Ford at the helm. It’s out March 6, with all proceeds supporting War Child UK’s goal of delivering immediate aid, education, specialist mental health support, and protection to children affected by conflict around the world. Its astounding line-up of contributors also includes Olivia Rodrigo, Pulp, Depeche Mode, Wet Leg, Big Thief, Anna Calvi, Arlo Parks, The Last Dinner Party, Arooj Aftab, Bat for Lashes, beabadoobee, Beck, Beth Gibbons, and more.
Some notable connections here: Olivia Rodrigo’s contribution is a cover of Magnetic Fields’ ‘The Book of Love’, featuring Blur’s Graham Coxon on guitar. Rodrigo once covered Fontaines D.C.’s ‘I Love You’ in Dublin. And this isn’t the first time Chatten and Tempest have crossed paths: Chatten appeared on ‘I Saw Light’ from Tempest’s 2022 album The Line is a Curve.
