Arctic Monkeys drummer Matt Helders has opened up about the band’s new song ‘Opening Night‘, and coming back together for the indie all-star new War Child charity album ‘Help(2)’.
READ MORE: Is ‘Opening Night’ a curtain call for Arctic Monkeys? It’s a beautiful gift either way
The Sheffield indie veterans returned yesterday (Thursday January 22) with the subtle and cinematic track, the first to be taken from War Child’s new charity compilation album ‘Help(2)‘.
Executive produced and helmed by longtime Monkeys collaborator James Ford, the record also features the likes of Damon Albarn, English Teacher, Young Fathers, Fontaines D.C., Geese frontman Cameron Winter, Depeche Mode, Foals, Olivia Rodrigo, Pulp, The Last Dinner Party, Wet Leg, and many more. Check out the full tracklist and release details here.
With this being the band’s first material since 2022’s ‘The Car‘, fans have been hoping that this was the start of the run-up to a new album from Arctic Monkeys; as well as speculating that this may be a swansong from them winding down. Speaking in a new interview with Zane Lowe on Apple Music, Helders said that they wanted the focus of their return to be aimed towards the charity.
“We’re not looking for attention ever when we do stuff! It’s not the thing that we like about it,” he said. “This is a reason we’d do something. There’s always going to be talk about it like, ‘What does it mean for the band?’ We want it to just be for these people and for this.
“If people are talking about it then they’re talking about War Child, and that’s kind of the point in this. I think everyone involved feels like that a little bit.”
The drummer continued: “People are going between album cycles, off tour, they’re not worried about that at the moment. Let’s just come together and do this. Everyone made time in their schedule to do it. For us, everyone can agree that this is a good cause. No one’s on the fence about whether we should help the kids or not. It’s a no-brainer for us.”
Helders spoke of how it was “a great time” for the band to reconvene, and that he enjoyed being able to “see everyone and to fall back into the roles that we’ve always had with each other, musically and personally.”
“Sometimes we might not see each other for six months, but when we do it’s like we were never apart,” he admitted. “That’s just how we are with people, with each other. It translates musically as well. We just had a couple of days doing this and it felt like nothing had happened; [that there was] no space between.”
Recalling his memories of the original and legendary ‘Help’ album being released in 1995 – featuring the likes of Oasis, Blur, Radiohead, Orbital, Portishead, Massive Attack, Suede, Sinéad O’Connor, Manic Street Preachers, The Boo Radleys and more – Helders said that there was no question as to whether the band would be involved in the follow-up, especially given their history with the charity (releasing a live album from Royal Albert Hall back in 2020 in aid of War Child) and with the project being led by Ford.
“Once we knew that it was happening and we knew that James Ford was steering the ship, he’s one of them people where everything he touches turns to gold,” said Helders. “He’s been involved in everything we’ve done in one way or another. It was a no-brainer for many reasons, number one being what it’s for and number two being the calibre of the people involved.”
With War Child releases often featuring collaborations and covers – including Graham Coxon joining Olivia Rodrigo on a rendition of The Magnetic Fields’ ‘The Book of Love’, Fontaines D.C. lending their cover of Sinead O’Connor’s ‘Black Boys On Mopeds’ and Depeche Mode’s take of Buffy Sainte-Marie ‘Universal Soldier’ all featuring on ‘Help(2)’ – Helders said that they worked with producer Loren Humphrey to put together elements of leftover ideas to form something new and original.
“One thought was, ‘Do you do a cover? Do you do a collaboration with someone else involved in it? We had the itch to do something together again,” said Helders. “We had ideas laying around from over the years that have never become stuff, so we went back to a few of those things to see if we had anything good enough for this. We decided to go with something new.”
The drummer, photographer and solo artists revealed how there were “parts” of the song “that I remember from us trying things in the past,” but that “it was something that was never completed”.
“It’s not another version of something we already did, but I just know that there are elements of it,” he went on. “As is quite often the case with us, there will be things that we kick around for a bit that aren’t ready yet or just didn’t make the cut at the time.
“There are parts of it I remember, but there’s obviously how our sound has changed over time and developed – and our ability. I always go back to the fact that there’s some of this stuff that we couldn’t have done like 10 or 15 years ago. We’re still getting better at doing stuff. All the harmonies, that’s obviously something later in our career, to be able to do something like that and pull it off.”
Arctic Monkeys credit: Phoebe Fox
Helders didn’t say anything about the band recording or touring again, but he did open up about how it has “always been fun” to be back writing and recording with his childhood friend and frontman Alex Turner, and that he always takes pleasure in watching him work in the studio.
“There’s no requirement for me to stick around for those bits. Any other drummer knows that you can do your own thing and then get out of there if you want,” he said. “I’ve always enjoyed that process of seeing it come to life. Adding the finishing touches is obviously him going in and doing his vocals. That’s when it’s under more of a microscope for me. There might have been things lyrically that I missed when we’re just rehearsing it and working it out. ”
“Seeing it in that way, it’s still as much fun as it was the first time.”
Today (Friday January 23) marks 20 years since the band released their seminal, debut album ‘Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not’. Head here for Alex Turner recalling the creation of ‘I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor‘ and here for Arctic Monkeys’ first ever NME interview from 2005.
Fans have been wondering what the future holds for Arctic Monkeys, ever since it was noticed the band had updated their website homepage and launched a new recording company back in September.
The follow month also saw Helders launch new project Terrific with debut single ‘WeHo yet?’, with fans expecting more new material soon.
‘Help(2)’ will be released on Friday March 6 via War Child Records and is available for pre-order here.
War Child orks to protect, educate, and support the mental health of children affected by war – and comes at a time of conflicts in Palestine, Ukraine, Sudan, Syria and beyond.
The first ‘Help’ charity album raised over £1.25million and sold over 700,000 copies, and was followed by other charity records including 2002’s ‘1 Love’, 2003’s ‘Hope’, 2005’s ‘Help!: A Day in the Life’ and 2009’s ‘War Child Presents Heroes’. The original was reissued and made available on streaming platforms in 2020 to celebrate its 25th anniversary. In October last year, it was then reissued again, this time as a limited, numbered 7” single boxed set in celebration of it turning 30.
As well as releasing new music under War Child Records, BRITs Week 2026 will also be returning this year, and see big names play intimate gigs to help raise awareness and funds for the charity.
The shows take place in the run up to the BRIT Awards, and this year’s performers include Fatboy Slim, Myles Smith, Lambrini Girls and more. Visit here to sign up for any remaining tickets.
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