War Child has rallied a characteristically impressive lineup for the latest instalment in its generation-spanning Help compilation series. Recorded at Abbey Road and led by the first Arctic Monkeys single since 2022, Help(2) features new music from Big Thief, Cameron Winter, Olivia Rodrigo, King Krule, Fontaines D.C., Bat for Lashes, Pulp, Wet Leg, Depeche Mode, and Black Country, New Road, as well as a bunch of unlikely collaborations: Arooj Aftab and Beck; Damon Albarn, Grian Chatten, and Kae Tempest; Anna Calvi, Dove Ellis, and Nilüfer Yanya; and many more. It is, in short, one of the most star-studded compilations since the charity’s last one.
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Johnny Blue Skies & The Dark Clouds: Mutiny After Midnight [Atlantic]
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Sturgill Simpson got his new name, Johnny Blue Skies, from hanging out in bars. “When I started performing and getting my confidence at open mics and stuff, he’d come to this other bar and see me because it was his night off,” he said in a GQ interview. “He started every time I’d walk into his bar, he’d say, ‘Johnny Blue Skies.’ So I just started using it.” Mutiny After Midnight also sounds like it was born in a bar, one in which whiskey is overflowing in every years-worn glass, collars are loose, and someone’s in the corner shit-faced, ranting about the government. The album threads disco stabs through country rock and political lyrics, a soundtrack for the best party at the end of the world.
Bonnie “Prince” Billy: We Are Together Again [No Quarter]
