Arctic Monkeys have no immediate plans to make new music.
The indie legends returned last week with the War Child charity single, Opening Night, their first release since their 2022 album The Car.
Although this time it was a “one-off” project, drummer Matt Helders insists they aren’t done yet.
Appearing on BBC Radio 1’s New Music Show, he said of reuniting with his bandmates to contribute to the HELP (2) album: “I think we went into this knowing it was a one-off. But then, having done it, we probably went away feeling like we just had a lot of fun making this record.
“There’s no conversations about it, but it’s definitely something we love to do and we’ll always do.”
Matt had also recently told Zane Lowe on Apple Music 1 of his relationship with frontman Alex Turner: “Sometimes we might not see each other for six months, but when we do it’s like we were never apart.
“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.”
HELP(2) – a sequel to 1995’s HELP, which raised more than £1.2million for children caught up in the Bosnian conflict – lands on March 6.
All proceeds will go towards War Child’s emergency aid, education, mental health support and protection programmes for young people in war-torn countries.
The album was put together during an intense week of recording at Abbey Road Studios in November 2025, overseen by producer James Ford.
He brought together a huge line-up of artists including Anna Calvi, Arlo Parks, Beck, Beth Gibbons, Big Thief, Damon Albarn, Depeche Mode, Foals, Fontaines D.C., Greentea Peng, Olivia Rodrigo, Pulp, Sampha, Wet Leg and Young Fathers.
Damon Albarn teamed up with Johnny Marr, Kae Tempest and Grian Chatten for his track Flags, while Olivia Rodrigo recorded The Book of Love with Blur guitarist Graham Coxon.
Arctic Monkeys said in a statement: “When James Ford called and asked if we’d contribute to the HELP(2) album we set to work on a song idea and assembled in Abbey Road to record it. We are proud to support the invaluable work War Child do and hope the record will make a positive difference to the lives of children affected by war.”
