James Ford says Damon Albarn had 'one stipulation' when agreeing to HELP(2) album
7 March 2026, 18:16
James Ford: War Child HELP(2) album "restored my faith in humanity"
The acclaimed producer told Radio X's John Kennedy about working with the Blur and Gorillaz man, who featured on the original Help album in 1995.
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James Ford has discussed working on War Child's HELP(2) album and revealed that Damon Albarn had one main condition when it came to featuring on the record.
The Blur frontman and Gorillaz co-founder appeared on War Child's original charity album, Help, in 1995 and speaking to Radio X's John Kennedy, Ford revealed that he was happy to return for the new project as long as he wasn't a focus.
"Obviously he was involved in the first record and [I] sort of asked him quite directly to if he could write a song for it really," said the famed producer. "And he's very gung-ho in that respect, but one of his main stipulations is he wanted it to be this kind of collaborative affair that didn't necessarily centre him so much.
"And so we put our thinking caps on and approached Grian [Chatten from Fontaines D.C.] and Kae [Tempest] and they were immediately very up for it."
What came about from the fruitful collab was Flags, which appears as the second track on the album after Arctic Monkeys' Opening Night single.
Ford reminisced on how the their effort ended up growing from the three musicians to somewhat of an "all-star band" as everyone from Smiths legend Johnny Marr to Mercury Prize winners Ezra Collective joined in... as well as some important younger voices.
"It was a great opportunity considering we had Abbey Road Studio Two to get together a bit of an all-star band," he added. "And so there's like, you know, members of Ezra Collective and Portishead and Johnny Marr etcetera.
He went on: "I think across it there was the idea of we wanted children's voices to be heard throughout the record. "I think Damon was very keen to have a kids choir as well and then that got broadened out to whoever was in the building at the time.
"So also, you know, Jarvis [Cocker] are all singing on it as well. And yeah, it's a great sort of chaotic collaborative moment that really sums up the spirit of the of the record really.
Catch up on the full X-Posure with John Kennedy track by track now on Global Player.
In the special X-Posure track by track album playback, Ford also described working on the charity record as a "godsend" amid his leukaemia battle.
"I've been recovering from leukaemia and I unfortunately got ill again in the week running up to Abbey Road and so I was actually in the ICU with a tube coming out of my neck for the actual Abbey Road recording session," he revealed. "So it was quite, quite a challenging time in a number of ways. And then as I kind of came out of that situation, I was getting the files from different sessions and actually finished off a lot of the recordings while still on the ward."
Speaking of working on Opening Night, in particular he added: "You know, the Arctic Monkeys song, [frontman] Alex [Turner] was sending me vocals and bits of guitar from his own studio and I was mixing and arranging the track sitting on sitting on the ward."
"I suppose me getting ill in the middle of it, the whole War Child thing, for me personally was godsend, honestly," he told Radio X. "It was amazing to still feel connected and, you know, useful, I suppose."
He added: "For me personally, it was an amazing experience, bit then I think also with a project like this, it sort of affords you, this a different approach.
"It's an excuse to get people together that wouldn't normally get together and collaborate with, you know, and kind of almost force these collaborations that wouldn't normally happen without, you know, a lot of pushing.
"So it was a fantastic, fantastic experience to be able to sort of set all these different relationships up and see how they developed, you know, and we're very, very proud of the result. We think it's a great record."
Catch up on the full X-Posure chat with John Kennedy now on Global Player.
Read more:
- What's the best indie compilation album?
- Matt Helders discusses the possibility of a live show for War Child's HELP(2) album
- War Child UK confirm HELP(2) album: tracklist, release date & artists working on the charity record
The composer, multi-instrumentalist, producer and songwriter - who's also known for being a member of Simian Mobile Disco and The Last Shadow Puppets - reflected on the timing of the record, which kept him distracted during his illness and allowed him to feel connected, despite doing a lot of the sessions remotely with his "face on a laptop".
"I suppose me getting ill in the middle of it, the whole War Child thing, for me personally was godsend, honestly," he told Radio X. "It was amazing to still feel connected and, you know, useful, I suppose."
"For me personally, it was an amazing experience, bit then I think also with a project like this, it sort of affords you, this a different approach," he added. "It's an excuse to get people together that wouldn't normally get together and collaborate with, you know, and kind of almost force these collaborations that wouldn't normally happen without, you know, a lot of pushing.
"So it was a fantastic, fantastic experience to be able to sort of set all these different relationships up and see how they developed, you know, and we're very, very proud of the result. We think it's a great record."
Catch up on the full X-Posure chat with John Kennedy now on Global Player.
Help(2) which also includes contributions from Pulp, English Teacher, Depeche Mode, Wolf Alice's Ellie Rowsell, Young Fathers, Anna Calvi, Foals, Arlo Parks, Ezra Collective, Graham Coxon and Olivia Rodrigo is out now.
See its tracklisting below and stream it in full now.
See the full HELP(2) tracklist here:
- Arctic Monkeys - Opening Night
- Damon Albarn, Grian Chatten & Kae Tempest - Flags
- Black Country, New Road - Strangers
- The Last Dinner Party - Let’s do it again!
- Beth Gibbons - Sunday Morning
- Arooj Aftab & Beck - Lilac Wine
- King Krule - The 343 Loop
- Depeche Mode - Universal Soldier
- Ezra Collective & Greentea Peng - Helicopters
- Arlo Parks - Nothing I Could Hide
- English Teacher & Graham Coxon - Parasite
- Beabadoobee - Say Yes
- Big Thief - Relive, Redie
- Fontaines D.C. - Black Boys on Mopeds
- Cameron Winter - Warning
- Young Fathers - Don’t Fight the Young
- Pulp - Begging for Change
- Sampha - Naboo
- Wet Leg - Obvious
- Foals - When the War is Finally Done
- Bat For Lashes - Carried my girl
- Anna Calvi, Ellie Rowsell, Nilüfer Yanya & Dove Ellis - Sunday Light
- Olivia Rodrigo - The Book of Love
Read more:
- Fontaines D.C. talk "life affirming" experience covering Sinéad O'Connor for HELP(2)
- Matt Helders talks HELP(2) & Arctic Monkeys' return: “No one’s sick of each other in this band”
War Child UK is driven by a single goal - ensuring a safe future for every child affected by war.
Using 30 years of experience and proven methodologies, War Child aims to reach children as quickly as possible when conflict breaks out and stays long after the cameras have gone to support them through their recovery.
War Child works with local communities and governments to help protect and educate children, and support them to heal and learn, for a safer, brighter future. Because one child caught up in conflict is one child too many.
War Child understands children’s needs, respects and stands up for their rights, and puts them at the centre of everything it does. War Child boldly campaigns on the root causes of conflict and helps to amplify children’s voices, so that it can advocate for change on the issues that matter to them.
Together with its partners, War Child delivers vital work in 14 countries across Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America.
Every day, its local teams are in communities and refugee camps creating safe spaces for children to play, learn, and access psychological support. War Child also specialises in responding rapidly to emergency crisis situations as they happen, offering immediate and critical aid impartially to keep children safe and help them through their trauma.War Child UK is a member of the War Child Alliance, a global foundation made up of five fundraising offices and 14 programme offices.
Find out more about War Child here
The story behind the original record and its recording is now legend: all of the songs were recorded on one single day, Monday 4th September 1995, mixed the following day, and released to the buying public a few days later, on Saturday 9th September. The idea to record in 24 hours came from John Lennon, who, when discussing his 1970 record ‘Instant Karma’ said that records should be like newspapers, reflecting events as they are happening.
‘HELP’ sold over 70,000 copies on day one and reached No.1 in the UK compilation charts and would have reached No.1 on the UK albums chart had it been eligible. Following its release, the record won both a specially created BRIT Award, collected by Thom Yorke, and a Q Award to recognise its impact. It was also nominated for the 1996 Mercury Prize; Pulp won that year with ‘Different Class’ but donated the prize fund to War Child.
