{"id":387789,"date":"2026-01-24T10:27:10","date_gmt":"2026-01-24T10:27:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/387789\/"},"modified":"2026-01-24T10:27:10","modified_gmt":"2026-01-24T10:27:10","slug":"we-had-the-itch-to-do-something-together-again","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/387789\/","title":{"rendered":"We had the itch to do something together again"},"content":{"rendered":"

Arctic Monkeys<\/a> drummer Matt Helders<\/a> has opened up about the band\u2019s new song \u2018Opening Night<\/a>\u2018, and coming back together for the indie all-star new War Child charity album \u2018Help(2)\u2019.<\/p>\n

The Sheffield indie veterans returned yesterday<\/a> (Thursday January 22) with the subtle and cinematic track, the first to be taken from War Child\u2019s new charity compilation album \u2018Help(2)<\/a>\u2018.<\/p>\n

Executive produced and helmed by longtime Monkeys collaborator James Ford, the record also features the likes of Damon Albarn<\/a>, English Teacher<\/a>, Young Fathers,\u00a0<\/a>Fontaines D.C., <\/a>Geese<\/a> frontman\u00a0Cameron Winter<\/a>, Depeche Mode<\/a>, Foals<\/a>, Olivia Rodrigo<\/a>, Pulp<\/a>,\u00a0The Last Dinner Party<\/a>, Wet Leg, <\/a>and many more. Check out the full tracklist and release details here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

With this being the band\u2019s first material since 2022\u2019s \u2018The Car<\/a>\u2018, 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<\/a>, Helders said that they wanted the focus of their return to be aimed towards the charity.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re not looking for attention ever when we do stuff! It\u2019s not the thing that we like about it,\u201d he said. \u201cThis is a reason we\u2019d do something. There\u2019s always going to be talk about it like, \u2018What does it mean for the band?\u2019 We want it to just be for these people and for this.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf people are talking about it then they\u2019re talking about War Child, and that\u2019s kind of the point in this. I think everyone involved feels like that a little bit.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

The drummer continued: \u201cPeople are going between album cycles, off tour, they\u2019re not worried about that at the moment. Let\u2019s 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\u2019s on the fence about whether we should help the kids or not. It\u2019s a no-brainer for us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Helders spoke of how it was \u201ca great time\u201d for the band to reconvene, and that he enjoyed being able to \u201csee everyone and to fall back into the roles that we\u2019ve always had with each other, musically and personally.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes we might not see each other for six months, but when we do it\u2019s like we were never apart,\u201d he admitted. \u201cThat\u2019s 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

Recalling his memories of the original and legendary \u2018Help\u2019 album being released in 1995 \u2013 featuring the likes of Oasis<\/a>, Blur<\/a>, Radiohead<\/a>, Orbital<\/a>, Portishead<\/a>, Massive Attack<\/a>, Suede<\/a>, Sin\u00e9ad O\u2019Connor<\/a>, Manic Street Preachers<\/a>, The Boo Radleys<\/a> and more \u2013 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<\/a> in aid of War Child) and with the project being led by Ford.<\/p>\n

\u201cOnce we knew that it was happening and we knew that James Ford was steering the ship, he\u2019s one of them people where everything he touches turns to gold,\u201d said Helders. \u201cHe\u2019s been involved in everything we\u2019ve done in one way or another. It was a no-brainer for many reasons, number one being what it\u2019s for and number two being the calibre of the people involved.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

With War Child releases often featuring collaborations and covers \u2013 including\u00a0Graham Coxon joining Olivia Rodrigo on a rendition of The Magnetic Fields\u2019 \u2018The Book of Love\u2019, Fontaines D.C. lending their cover of Sinead O\u2019Connor\u2019s \u2018Black Boys On Mopeds\u2019 and Depeche Mode\u2019s take of Buffy Sainte-Marie \u2018Universal Soldier\u2019 all featuring on \u2018Help(2)\u2019 \u2013 Helders said that they worked with producer Loren Humphrey to put together elements of leftover ideas to form something new and original.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne thought was, \u2018Do you do a cover? Do you do a collaboration with someone else involved in it? We had the itch to do something together again,\u201d said Helders. \u201cWe 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

The drummer, photographer and solo artists revealed how there were \u201cparts\u201d of the song \u201cthat I remember from us trying things in the past,\u201d but that \u201cit was something that was never completed\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not another version of something we already did, but I just know that there are elements of it,\u201d he went on. \u201cAs is quite often the case with us, there will be things that we kick around for a bit that aren\u2019t ready yet or just didn\u2019t make the cut at the time.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are parts of it I remember, but there\u2019s obviously how our sound has changed over time and developed \u2013 and our ability. I always go back to the fact that there\u2019s some of this stuff that we couldn\u2019t have done like 10 or 15 years ago. We\u2019re still getting better at doing stuff. All the harmonies, that\u2019s obviously something later in our career, to be able to do something like that and pull it off.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"ArcticArctic Monkeys credit: Phoebe Fox<\/p>\n

Helders didn\u2019t say anything about the band recording or touring again, but he did open up about how it has \u201calways been fun\u201d 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.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s 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,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019ve always enjoyed that process of seeing it come to life. Adding the finishing touches is obviously him going in and doing his vocals. That\u2019s when it\u2019s under more of a microscope for me. There might have been things lyrically that I missed when we\u2019re just rehearsing it and working it out. \u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSeeing it in that way, it\u2019s still as much fun as it was the first time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Today (Friday January 23) marks 20 years since the band released their seminal, debut album \u2018Whatever People Say I Am, That\u2019s What I\u2019m Not<\/a>\u2019. Head here for Alex Turner recalling the creation of \u2018I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor<\/a>\u2018 and here for Arctic Monkeys\u2019 first ever NME interview from 2005<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Fans have been wondering what the future holds for Arctic Monkeys, ever since it was noticed the band had updated their website homepage <\/a>and launched a new recording company back in September.<\/p>\n

The follow month also saw Helders launch new project Terrific with debut single \u2018WeHo yet?<\/a>\u2019, with fans expecting more new material soon.<\/p>\n

\u2018Help(2)\u2019 will be released on Friday March 6 via War Child Records and is available for pre-order here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

War Child orks to protect, educate, and support the mental health of children affected by war \u2013 and comes at a time of conflicts in Palestine, Ukraine, Sudan, Syria and beyond.<\/p>\n

The first \u2018Help\u2019 charity album raised over \u00a31.25million and sold over 700,000 copies, and was followed by other charity records including 2002\u2019s \u20181 Love\u2019, 2003\u2019s \u2018Hope\u2019, 2005\u2019s \u2018Help!: A Day in the Life\u2019 and 2009\u2019s \u2018War Child Presents Heroes\u2019. The original was reissued and made available on streaming platforms in 2020 to celebrate its 25th anniversary<\/a>. In October last year, it was then reissued again, this time as a limited, numbered 7\u201d single boxed set in celebration of it turning 30<\/a>.<\/p>\n

As well as releasing new music under War Child Records, BRITs Week 2026 will also be returning this year<\/a>, and see big names play intimate gigs to help raise awareness and funds for the charity.<\/p>\n

The shows take place in the run up to the BRIT Awards<\/a>, and this year\u2019s performers include Fatboy Slim<\/a>, Myles Smith<\/a>, Lambrini Girls<\/a> and more. Visit here to sign up for any remaining tickets<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Arctic Monkeys drummer Matt Helders has opened up about the band\u2019s new song \u2018Opening Night\u2018, and coming back…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":387790,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[96,3583,128,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-387789","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-music","8":"tag-entertainment","9":"tag-indie","10":"tag-music","11":"tag-uk","12":"tag-united-kingdom","13":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/387789","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=387789"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/387789\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/387790"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=387789"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=387789"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=387789"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}