James Ford reveals artists rejected new War Child compilation because it was “too political”
James Ford, the producer behind the new War Child Records compilation, has claimed many artists rejected it on the grounds of it being “too political”.
Help (2) was officially confirmed on January 22nd alongside Arctic Monkeys releasing their first single in four years, ‘Opening Night‘, which will appear on the upcoming compilation that is slated to arrive on March 6th, 2026.
It features a cast of hugely impressive names, including Damon Albarn, Fontaines DC, Big Thief, Oliva Rodrigo, Wet Leg, The Last Dinner Party, Cameron Winter, Pulp, Depeche Mode, Ezra Collective, English Teacher, Anna Calvi, King Krule, and many more.
The reason why these artists descended upon Abbey Road Studios was all in the name of War Child and to raise vital money to help children who are the victims of war across the world in places such as Ukraine, Sudan and Gaza.
In a new interview with The Guardian, Ford opened up about the task of bringing the group of artists together, explaining the easy part first, noting, “Obviously, a lot of people I know and I’ve worked with were easy targets, so we started with them: Fontaines DC, Arctic Monkeys, Depeche Mode, Gorillaz, Pulp and people like that.”
However, there were also many artists, who went unnamed, who rejected the opportunity to raise money for War Child due to fears of the album appearing to be political. He added, “It was actually a great insight into the industry: which people are willing to do something. People who you’d think would be into it flat-out refused because they saw it as too political or something like that. It was fascinating.”
In the same interview, Ford also revealed that he worked on the album from the hospital as he was receiving treatment for leukaemia while the artists were at Abbey Road.
He shared, “It was one of the most bizarre experiences of my life. But it sort of kept me sane. To have something that connected me to the real world, to something I love, was a life-saver, really.”
The opportunity to raise money and awareness of War Child was the main motivator for Arctic Monkeys, according to drummer Matt Helders. As it had been four years since The Car, Helders knew there would be “talk about” whatever they do next, which he said is why they chose to team up with War Child to deflect the noise to a good cause.
The drummer told Zane Lowe on Apple Music 1, “If people are talking about, then they’re talking about War Child, and that’s the point in this. I think everyone involved probably feels that a little bit.”
Helders added of the vital work that War Child do across the world, “For us, it’s like you said, it’s like nobody can deny this is a call, Everyone agrees that this is a good cause. No one’s on the fence about whether we should help the kids or not. I think it was like a no-brainer for us, definitely.”
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