FAC Insights: HELP (2) and harnessing the power of music to impact positive change in the world

FAC Insights is a forum for us to showcase and share long form pieces looking at various parts of the music industry and the society that shapes it. Pieces take the form of videos, interviews, discussions, articles and more.

Following the release of the HELP (2) album, we’re thrilled to feature Jim Benner, Global Music Lead at War Child, as he shares insight into how the charity is harnessing the power of music to drive positive change around the world.

Sometimes people tell me I have the best job in the world and some days, I believe it. Today is one of those days.  

 War Child has just completed our biggest and best BRITs Week series of live shows with headliners from Olivia Dean, Robbie Williams, Fatboy Slim, Spiritualized, KWN, Jack Savoretti, Katherine Jenkins, Jacob Alon, and many others. The Foo Fighters gifted us tickets to their in-demand underplays in London and Manchester which raised nearly £30K and in just a few days, we are releasing our HELP(2) album. The anticipation is palpable.  

 This record defines the ‘sound of now.’  Like its predecessor, the original 1995 HELP album, HELP(2) features the great and good of today’s music including Arctic Monkeys, Wet Leg, Pulp, Depeche Mode, Beabadoobee, Foals, The Last Dinner Party, Ezra Collective & Greentea Peng, Fontaines DC and so many more. I’m tempted to just put the track listing here and let it speak for itself. In testament to the strength of War Child’s relationship with the music industry, we managed once again to include members of Blur and Oasis. Damon Albarnassembled a super group with Kae Tempest, Grian Chatten, Johnny Marr, Dave Okumu, Adrian Utley, and a choir including Jarvis Cocker, Carl Barat, Marika Hackman, Declan McKenna and members of Black Country, New Road. Graham Coxon plays on the English Teacher and Olivia Rodrigo tracks. And Oasis also contributed their iconic live version of “Acquiesce” recorded at their final Wembley show last year which appears on a one-sided 7” single that comes with the album (or as a final hidden track on the CD version). 

 In 1995 HELP featured the best of Britpop, trip hop, dance music and a supergroup comprising of three titans of their respective generations; Paul McCartney, Paul Weller and Noel Gallagher as The Smokin’ Mojo Filters covering the Beatles’ “Come Together”, while Radiohead contributed “Lucky” two years before it appeared on OK Computer. HELP was remarkable in so many ways. Inspired by a John Lennon quip about writing a song (in this case “Instant Karma”) for breakfast, recording it at lunch and releasing it at tea time, the HELPalbum was recorded on the Monday, mixed and mastered on Tuesday and Wednesday, manufactured on Thursday, distributed on Friday and in the shops on Saturday,  The turn-around was so quick that those who bought the record only found out about the track listing in the music papers the following week. 

 Different times, eh? That was a herculean effort that defied logic at the time when physical product was the only purchasable music format. Technology in the digital age has made many things easier though HELP(2) experienced its own setbacks. James Ford, the producer, curator, creative visionary, and absolute force of nature behind HELP(2) produced tracks being recorded at Abbey Road Studios from his hospital bed while being treated for leukaemia. 

 Despite the totally unique success of the original HELP album, we can’t forget that wars continue to rage on. No war was ever started by a child, yet they are always the ones to suffer the most. 

 War Child was founded in 1993 by two film directors, Bill Leeson and David Wilson who were making a documentary in former Yugoslavia during the Bosnian War. So horrified by what they saw there, they petitioned the UK government to do something about it. It was only after engaging their friends in the music industry, Brian Eno and Anthea Norman-Taylor who brought on board people like David Bowie, Paul McCartney, Kate Bush, and Luciano Pavarotti that people started to pay attention and support War Child.  

 In 1995, Tony Crean and Andy Macdonald at Go! Discs, PR people Terri Hall, Rob Partridge and Anton Brookes brought together the great and good of British music, Oasis, Blur, The Stone Roses, Portishead, Radiohead, Suede, Manic Street Preachers (their first recording since the disappearance of Richey Edwards), Orbital, the KLF and Sinead O’Connor amongst them, to raise money and awareness for War Child.  It raised over £1.25M and would have been a number one album if the chart rules would have allowed it. 1995’s HELP album put War Child firmly on the musical map.  

 War Child’s mission is something that connects with artists who are so important in raising awareness and funds for our vital work - educating, protecting, and providing specialistmental health support to children in war zones. We have programmes in 14 war zones across the globe. We work alongside many other noble causes who provide food, shelter, clean drinking water, medicine, clothing, and more. We have evidence-based methodologies we’ve been refining in our 33-year existence, showing not only how important specialist mental health support is for children in these environments, but how effective the programmes we deliver are. You can give a child a bed to sleep in but that doesn’t stop them having nightmares. 

 When War Child was founded, 1 in 10 children around the world were affected by conflict. That number has since doubled to 1 in 5. That’s currently 520 million children living within 50km of an active conflict.  

 War Child is a neutral international humanitarian organisation. We don’t take sides in a war. We are there for the children who are always the innocent victims. We are amongst the first to arrive on the scene when war breaks out and we are the last to leave, long after the news crews have moved on to the next headline, ensuring support is provided to communities so they can rebuild, and children can hope for a brighter future. 

 Having seen War Child’s work in action, what impresses me the most is the beautiful eco-systems we create. We work with local communities – people who know the language, the customs, the etiquette, and ultimately, the need. People who are refugees themselves, but who have the skills and desire to help children in their community, People who more than anyone, want those children not just survive, but thrive.  

 In this spirit, children played a key role in the HELP(2) recording sessions at Abbey Road. Filmmaker Jonathan Glazer equipped 8-year-olds with hand-held cameras and let them have at it, running around the studios capturing footage of artists. They were the great leveller. While the Arctic Monkeys were recording  “Opening Night” one child asked Alex Turner to move so she could get a shot of Matt Helder on the drums. If a grown-up had done the same, the vibe would have been completely different. Alex Turner just laughed. 

 Jonathan Glazer also equipped children in War Child’s programmes in Ukraine, Gaza, Yemen, and Sudan with the same cameras. The footage they shot shows children being children. Running, playing, skipping, jumping – like kids anywhere - but with a backdrop of destruction. The juxtaposition of the studio and war zone footage both shot by children says more than words ever could. 

War Child continues to work closely with our friends in the music industry to raise money and awareness for our important work. Whether it’s headlining a show, donating, and signing items for auction, recording music, or sharing information on social media. We couldn’t do it without the support of artists, managers, agents, labels, promoters, venues, and everyone working in the music ecosystem.  

War Child is very proud of our relationships with artists and their teams. Thank you for your support. Long may it continue!