Damon Albarn, Fontaines D.C.’s Grian Chatten, and Kae Tempest join forces on the second single to be released from the new War Child compilation Help(2). Their song, “Flags,” features musical backup from Johnny Marr, Portishead’s Adrian Utley, the Invisible’s Dave Okumu, and Ezra Collective’s Seye Adelekan, and Albarn’s Gorillaz bandmate Femi Koleoso. Watch a visualizer for the track—directed, as with all the Help(2) visuals, by Jonathan Glazer—below.
As well as the all-star cast of musicians, “Flags” is backed by a 43-piece choir that counts Marr, Jarvis Cocker, the Libertines’ Carl Barat, Let’s Eat Grandma’s Rosa Walton, Declan McKenna, Marika Hackman, English Teacher, and Black Country, New Road among its number.
Tempest elaborated on the composition process in a press release: “Me and Grian wrote our verses, responding to each other. We all worked together on Damon’s lyrics. Damon had the melody but kept the lyrics free so we could find them all together. It was a true collaboration.”
Albarn added, “Recording ‘Flags’ was a genuinely joyful two days, with a strong sense of purpose throughout the building. I was particularly struck by the decision to employ children to do all the filming in the studio – it felt inspiring and directly reinforced the point we were trying to make about communicating with kids, by involving them in the process itself.”
Chatten’s main band, Fontaines D.C., also contribute to the compilation, along with Big Thief, Cameron Winter, Arooj Aftab and Beck, Olivia Rodrigo, King Krule, Depeche Mode, and many more. The lead single from the record, “Opening Night,” marked Arctic Monkeys’ return. Simian Mobile Disco’s James Ford executive produced the album.
