Damon Albarn stands in the doorway of the Abbey Road diner, having an intense conversation with Karl Barat of The Libertines.

Nearby, Pulp is lining up for freshly baked lasagna.

Around them, six children run around, filming everything with handheld cameras.

They are all excitedly awaiting the arrival of Olivia Rodrigo.

These were the scenes in London last November, when some of the world’s biggest stars gathered to record a new charity album in support of Warchild.

The tracklist released yesterday seems to be a portrait of an indie rock figure. Wet Leg, The Last Dinner Party, Wolf Alice, Fontaines DC, Nilüfer Yanya, Cameron Winter, Ezra Collective, Foals, and Young Fathers all contributed.

23 tracks were recorded in one week. At times, five of Abbey Road’s famous studios were used and collaborations were born on the spur of the moment.

Blur’s Graham Coxon plays guitar with Rodrigo on a cover of Magnetic Fields’ “The Book of Love.” Damon Albarn’s session featured Johnny Marr on guitar, and Kay Tempest and Gryan Chatten added vocals.

Later that day, Jarvis Cocker returned from a bathroom break to find everyone in the studio and was asked to sing the intro to Pulp’s new song, “Begging For Change.”

“It just showed up and I was like, ‘Why?’” he laughed. “I’m not used to this kind of thing, but it was really nice.”

The album is a spiritual successor to 1995’s Help! – Recorded at the height of Britpop and features contributions from Paul Weller, Radiohead, Suede, Paul McCartney, KLF, Portishead and Manic Street Preachers.

It was also famously the only time Oasis and Blur appeared on the same record, just months after their legendary (and bitter) chart battle.

Noel Gallagher said at the time: “We’re putting our differences aside for the greater good.” “And this is the only time I see us agreeing on anything.”

The record sold 70,000 copies in its first week and raised nearly £1.25 million to support children in war-hit areas such as Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Funding will become even more urgent in 2025. According to WarChild, 520 million children around the world (almost one in five) are affected by war, with concurrent crises occurring in Ukraine, Sudan and Gaza.

This figure is higher than at any time since World War II, and at the same time governments around the world are cutting back on international aid.

“It seems like a lot of really bad things are happening at the moment, and a lot of people are feeling helpless,” Cocker said.

“They’re watching the news and they don’t know what to do. So I hope this album is something that people can enjoy and know that they’re trying to make a positive change.”

The first single released Thursday is Arctic Monkeys’ new song “Opening Night.”

A sparse, foreboding ballad, Alex Turner sings about political slogans and the “supercomputer movement” before a beautifully harmonized chorus delivers a message of hope in dark times.

Drummer Matt Helders told the BBC that the song dates back several years, but was not yet completed.

A phone call from Warchild gave them the impetus they needed to complete the song, whose lyrics are like a call to arms.

“On charity records, you often want to do covers or interesting collaborations, but we enjoy making records and getting into the studio, so it was fun working on what we wrote,” he says.

Adding to the fun was the fact that a film crew of mostly children between the ages of 8 and 10 was documenting the entire recording process.

They were drawn to BAFTA-winning director Jonathan Glaser (Sexy Beast, Under the Skin, Zone of Interest). He wanted to connect music to the young people it could help.

“They can now roam freely, and that really changes the atmosphere,” Helders said.

“The studio can be a very formal clinical environment at times, but they were walking around and bumping into things, which was fun.”

Cocker wasn’t so sure.

“I don’t like anyone to see me singing in the studio. I’m a self-conscious person, so it doesn’t help if someone points a camera at me,” he says.

“So while I was singing, I think they were a little bored, so they just laid down on the floor and kind of filmed the ceiling.”

Eventually, he found the presence of children liberating. Their lack of interest allowed him to abandon the idea that studio recordings needed to record a “perfect, definitive version” of a song.

As a result, Pulp’s contribution to Help 2 – Begging For Change – has a loose live band vibe that really embodies the album’s sense of spontaneity and community.

In fact, the young film crew even recorded it.

“It’s interesting because kids are always told things like, ‘Shut up, I’m thinking,’ or ‘Daddy’s hungover,'” he says.

“So if they’re given a chance to make a noise, they’ll do it. So what we tried to do with this song was get them to scream, and they did that very well.”

You won’t be able to hear this song until Help 2 is released on March 6th. Thanks to record labels and pressing plants offering their services for free, it’s cheaper than a regular album (a double record costs around £26), with Warchild receiving all profits.

“We found this project really lit a fire under the creative community,” says Rich Clark, the charity’s head of music. “There were a lot of people who wanted to participate.”

He said the album’s 23 tracks weren’t the only result of the week-long recording session.

“When people heard about this project, we had a ton of tracks, like 10. So there were actually some difficult decisions for the team about what was going to be on the record.”

However, Olivia Rodrigo’s song about the purity of love was always used as the last song.

“It’s a really beautiful cover,” Clark says.

“This record really takes you on a journey, with its powerful themes of conflict, but Olivia leaves us with a song about the redemptive power of love. It’s the final note that really hits home.”