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‘HELP(2)’ Is Out Now, Uniting Arctic Monkeys, Olivia Rodrigo, Pulp, and Dozens More for War Child UK

Eric Alper
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‘HELP(2)’ Is Out Now, Uniting Arctic Monkeys, Olivia Rodrigo, Pulp, and Dozens More for War Child UK

‘HELP(2)’ is out now via War Child Records, and it’s one of the most significant charity album releases in decades. Inspired by the landmark 1995 ‘HELP’ album that raised over £1.2 million for children caught in the Bosnian conflict, the new record brings together an extraordinary roster of artists in support of War Child UK’s ongoing work delivering immediate aid, education, mental health support, and protection to children affected by conflict worldwide.

The Last Dinner Party contribute “Let’s Do It Again!,” produced by James Ford and Animesh Ravel and recorded at Angel Studios. A flawless slice of theatrical pop about the endless carousel of returning to a relationship you know you shouldn’t be in, the track showcases exactly why the band has become one of the most exciting acts to emerge in recent years. “It’s such an honour to be included on this record for a cause that is so close to our hearts,” the band says. “We’d like to say a huge thank you to War Child for asking us to be a part of the project and to James Ford for producing us.”

The album was recorded predominantly across one extraordinary week in November 2025 at Abbey Road Studios under the stewardship of James Ford. The contributor list is staggering: Arctic Monkeys, Olivia Rodrigo, Pulp, Beth Gibbons, Depeche Mode, Fontaines D.C., Big Thief, Wet Leg, Foals, Beabadoobee, Arlo Parks, King Krule, Sampha, Young Fathers, Bat For Lashes, Beck with Arooj Aftab, Damon Albarn with Grian Chatten and Kae Tempest, English Teacher with Graham Coxon, and Anna Calvi with Ellie Rowsell, Nilüfer Yanya, and Dove Ellis, among others.

Several sessions produced genuinely remarkable moments. Damon Albarn’s “Flags” saw him joined by Johnny Marr on guitar alongside Kae Tempest and Grian Chatten of Fontaines D.C. Olivia Rodrigo was connected with Graham Coxon, resulting in the legendary guitarist performing on her cover of The Magnetic Fields’ “The Book of Love.” These aren’t cameos; they’re real collaborations born from the urgency of the project.

Academy Award-winning filmmaker Jonathan Glazer served as Creative Director, working with Mica Levi on a concept built around the phrase “By Children, For Children.” Children were handed cameras and invited into the studios to film the artists recording without restrictions. Glazer’s team also worked with fixers and filmmakers in Ukraine, Gaza, Yemen, and Sudan to gather footage filmed by children on the ground in those conflict zones. The resulting visual work connects the album directly to the children it seeks to help.

The numbers behind the urgency are stark. When the original ‘HELP’ was released in 1995, around 10% of the world’s children were affected by conflict. Today that figure has nearly doubled to almost 1 in 5, representing 520 million children worldwide, more than at any time since the Second World War. War Child UK currently delivers vital work across 14 countries including Sudan, Gaza, Ukraine, and Syria.

The original ‘HELP,’ led by Brian Eno and featuring Oasis, Blur, Radiohead, Massive Attack, Portishead, and Paul McCartney among others, sold over 70,000 copies on day one and reached No. 1 in the UK compilation charts. ‘HELP(2)’ carries that legacy forward with the same collective urgency and considerably more firepower.

‘HELP(2)’ Track Listing:

Arctic Monkeys – “Opening Night”

Damon Albarn, Grian Chatten & Kae Tempest – “Flags”

Black Country, New Road – “Strangers”

The Last Dinner Party – “Let’s Do It Again!”

Beth Gibbons – “Sunday Morning”

Arooj Aftab & Beck – “Lilac Wine”

King Krule – “The 343 Loop”

Depeche Mode – “Universal Soldier”

Ezra Collective & Greentea Peng – “Helicopters”

Arlo Parks – “Nothing I Could Hide”

English Teacher & Graham Coxon – “Parasite”

Beabadoobee – “Say Yes”

Big Thief – “Relive, Redie”

Fontaines D.C. – “Black Boys on Mopeds”

Cameron Winter – “Warning”

Young Fathers – “Don’t Fight the Young”

Pulp – “Begging for Change”

Sampha – “Naboo”

Wet Leg – “Obvious”

Foals – “When the War is Finally Done”

Bat For Lashes – “Carried my girl”

Anna Calvi, Ellie Rowsell, Nilüfer Yanya & Dove Ellis – “Sunday Light”

Olivia Rodrigo – “The Book of Love”

Enter Shikari Return to North America for East Coast Headline Dates This June

Eric Alper
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Enter Shikari Return to North America for East Coast Headline Dates This June

Enter Shikari are heading back to North America this June for a 9-date East Coast headline run, opening June 10th at Boston’s Paradise Rock Club and closing June 23rd at Toronto’s Phoenix Concert Theatre. The run hits New York, Philadelphia, Nashville, Indianapolis, Chicago, Minneapolis, and Grand Rapids along the way. Tickets are on sale now.

The band has built one of the most devoted live followings in rock, known for immersive productions that blur the line between concert and communal release. Their fall 2024 North American headline tour, their biggest in the region to date, sold out venues across the US and Canada with You Me At Six and Yours Truly in support. Last summer brought headline shows in Southern California and a return to Warped Tour in Long Beach. This June run brings them back to intimate rooms where they’ve always been at their most electric.

Enter Shikari consistently deliver one of the most joyously raucous live shows in any genre, combining relentless energy with a sense of collective celebration that has made them a genuine must-see act on both sides of the Atlantic.

Enter Shikari North America June 2026 Tour Dates:

June 10 – Boston, MA @ Paradise Rock Club

June 12 – New York, NY @ Irving Plaza

June 13 – Philadelphia, PA @ Theatre Of The Living Arts

June 16 – Nashville, TN @ The Basement East

June 17 – Indianapolis, IN @ Hi-Fi Annex

June 18 – Chicago, IL @ Thalia Hall

June 20 – Minneapolis, MN @ Amsterdam Music Hall

June 22 – Grand Rapids, MI @ The Pyramid Scheme

June 23 – Toronto, ON @ Phoenix Concert Theatre

Tiffany Stringer Makes Her Atlantic Records Debut With the Spite-Fueled Pop Country Anthem “Bullet”

Eric Alper
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Tiffany Stringer Makes Her Atlantic Records Debut With the Spite-Fueled Pop Country Anthem “Bullet”

Tiffany Stringer has made her Atlantic Records debut with “Bullet,” a pop country break-up anthem produced by Jack Riley and accompanied by a cinematic video directed by Logan Rice. The Texas-born, LA-based singer wrote the song herself, and the origin story is exactly as good as the track suggests. “Bullet is the pop country smash I wrote after finding out my cheating ex got married,” she says. “He moved to Nashville and I decided to write a country song so he couldn’t escape the sound of my voice. I honestly started writing it out of spite, but ultimately it became a way for me to express myself and turn that hurt into joy.”

The video, directed by Logan Rice whose credits include Jessie Murph and MARINA, taps into Stringer’s love of classic Hollywood films, giving the track a visual treatment that matches its dramatic, unapologetic energy. It’s a strong opening statement for a label debut, delivering exactly what the song promises without overselling it.

Stringer built real momentum before this moment. Her 2025 EP ‘The Texas Primadonna’ earned praise from Ones To Watch as “nothing less than pop-perfection,” racked up over 20 million social media views, and drew co-signs from Halsey, Addison Rae, and Tate McRae. A sold-out debut headline show in Los Angeles followed, and more new music is on the way this year.

“Bullet” is out now via Atlantic Records.

Marc Broussard Goes All In on Blues With Joe Bonamassa on ‘Chance Worth Taking’

Eric Alper
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Marc Broussard Goes All In on Blues With Joe Bonamassa on ‘Chance Worth Taking’

Marc Broussard’s ‘Chance Worth Taking’ is out now via Joe Bonamassa’s KTBA Records, and it marks a genuine creative pivot for the Louisiana soul singer. His first full album of original blues material, the 14-track record was produced by Bonamassa and Josh Smith alongside Calvin Turner, with Bonamassa contributing guitar on 10 tracks and co-writing 3 songs with Broussard. Smith features on and co-wrote 4 tracks, and Turner joined forces with Broussard on 10 of the album’s originals while contributing to the album’s string and horn arrangements.

The album’s origin has a good story behind it. Turner proposed the blues concept and sent Broussard a folder of 15 instrumentals. What followed was 3 manic days of writing. “I would wake up at 6:00 a.m. and write until 11:00 p.m. I’d be in the studio sweating like a madman,” Broussard recalls. The songs were then refined in the studio with Bonamassa, who pushed the project further. “When we got into the studio, Joe wasn’t fully convinced we had a blues album, so he added to the songs we already had, and we wrote three others together. In the end, we got to the promised land.”

Lead singles “No More” and “Fever” are both out now. “No More” is a sweeping cinematic blues ballad with stately strings and Bonamassa’s soaring guitar framing Broussard’s yearning vocal. “Fever” delivers a slinky modern roadhouse groove driven by funky rhythm guitars, punchy horns, and Smith’s stinging leads. Together they showcase the album’s range without giving away everything it contains.

The record moves through big-band B.B. King-style arrangements on “Let Me Take You Out Tonight” and “Blame,” which features improvisational interplay between Bonamassa, Smith, and Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Reese Wynans. Gospel-tinged soul ballad “Chance Worth Taking” and the timeless “Sweet Love” give the record emotional depth, while the album closes with “Laissez Les Bons Temps Rouler,” co-written by Trombone Shorty and Broussard, a brassy New Orleans send-off that feels like the natural end to this particular creative adventure.

Broussard’s signature “bayou soul” vocal, equal parts grit and grace, anchors all of it. “Man, I’m so excited about it all,” he says. “It’s time for me to move into my bluesman phase. At this stage of my life, I’m all about it.”

‘Chance Worth Taking’ Track Listing:

You’ll Be Sorry

“Trying To Do Right” feat. Joe Bonamassa

I’m Going Home

“No More” feat. Joe Bonamassa

“Fever” feat. Josh Smith

Chance Worth Taking

Let Me Take You Out Tonight

Sweet Love

These Walls

Satisfaction Guaranteed

Blame

Whispers

“Laissez Street Parade Intro” feat. Trombone Shorty

“Laissez Les Bons Temps Rouler” feat. Trombone Shorty

Upcoming Tour Dates:

May 30 – Highlands, NC @ Bear Shadow Festival

Athens Punk Trio The Overjoyed Release Their Most Personal Album Yet

Eric Alper
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Athens Punk Trio The Overjoyed Release Their Most Personal Album Yet

The Overjoyed’s third studio album is out now, self-produced by the Athens-based punk trio with engineering and mixing from Marios Adamopoulos. Known across Europe for relentless touring and explosive live shows, the band made this record differently, writing it fully collaboratively for the first time. “I’m so excited about this album,” frontman Leo says. “It’s the first time we collaborated 100% in the writing process.”

The record dives into personal struggle, mental health, addiction, and identity with the blunt force the band has always brought to their music. Opening track “Can’t Write Music” sets the tone immediately, written from what Leo describes as “a really dark place, struggling with self-identity, drugs, a break-up, while living in a world recovering from a worldwide epidemic and a social-political mass hysteria.” Elsewhere, “Spark” brings back the defiant energy the band is known for, and “Sleep,” one of their oldest songs, finally finds its place on record as a haunting reflection on comedowns and emotional collapse.

The Overjoyed’s new album is out now. European touring follows.

ULTRABOMB Unite Hüsker Dü, Social Distortion, and Soul Asylum Vets on New Album ‘The Bridges That We Burn’

Eric Alper
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ULTRABOMB Unite Hüsker Dü, Social Distortion, and Soul Asylum Vets on New Album ‘The Bridges That We Burn’

ULTRABOMB’s third album ‘The Bridges That We Burn’ is out now via DC-Jam Records and Virgin Music Group, and the lineup alone tells you what kind of record this is. Greg Norton of Hüsker Dü on bass and vocals, Derek O’Brien of Social Distortion, Agent Orange, and the Adolescents on drums and vocals, and Ryan Smith of Soul Asylum on guitar and vocals. Three punk and alternative rock veterans bringing decades of combined history into the present tense.

Latest single “Look Forward In Anger” is out now with an official video, and it captures the band turning shared frustrations into connection and forward movement. Norton is direct about the lyrical angle: “‘Look Forward In Anger’ is a commentary on how partisan politics push to divide us, when we should all be coming together. Love over BS, any day.” It’s a classic punk move, channeling anger into something that builds rather than just burns.

The album was recorded at Creation Audio in Minneapolis and produced, engineered, and mixed by John Fields, with mastering by Justin Perkins at Mystery Room Mastering. MAGNET describes the band’s sound as “a swift blow to the sternum that harnesses both the speedy energy of Norton’s early Minneapolis days and the ragged hard-rock sensibility of Twin Tone-era Soul Asylum,” which is exactly the reference frame you’d want. Punk Rock Theory sums it up simply: “Think Hüsker Dü, early Soul Asylum, and The Replacements.”

‘The Bridges That We Burn’ is out now via DC-Jam Records and Virgin Music Group.

Boston Duo Arrows of Athena Tell the Story of Madame Clicquot on the Soaring “Comets”

Eric Alper
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Boston Duo Arrows of Athena Tell the Story of Madame Clicquot on the Soaring “Comets”

Arrows of Athena’s sophomore album ‘Daydreaming’ is out now via Belhaven Records, and the story behind its standout single “Comets” is one of the more unexpected in recent alt-rock memory. The Boston cinematic duo of Jac-Lyn Gibson and Scott Lerner built the track around the real-life story of Barbe-Nicole Ponsardin, the French widow who took over her husband’s wine business in the early 1800s, defied every patriarchal constraint of her era, and eventually became Madame Clicquot, the Grande Dame of Champagne. Veuve Clicquot is still consumed around the world today.

Gibson discovered the story through the 2023 drama Widow Clicquot and immediately went deep. “As soon as I finished the movie I read her biography rather quickly and then got to work in the studio,” she says. The specific detail that anchors the song: comets crashed into the vineyard one evening, everyone was convinced the grapes were ruined, and Ponsardin alone believed it would improve the flavor. She was right. “The story is fascinating and a true testament of what women can overcome in times of despair,” Gibson adds.

For a duo named after the goddess of female strength and wisdom, the fit is exact. Lerner laid down a cascade of thunderous dance beats and thrashing riffs as the foundation, Gibson shaped the narrative over the top, and the result is one of the most expansive tracks in their catalog, pulsating and star-gazing with the 90s-coded electronic alt-rock energy that has drawn comparisons to Garbage and Republica since their debut.

‘Daydreaming’ marks a deliberate shift in creative territory from their 2024 debut ‘The Ghost Archives,’ which centered on death and personal loss. The new record explores storytelling across happier emotional terrain, capturing two adults navigating families, careers, and a desire to honor the peaceful and positive. “Now that we got through that chapter of pain, we are ready to tell a different story,” Gibson says. There are more guitars on this one overall, though the synths and dance beats that define the Arrows of Athena sound remain fully intact.

‘Daydreaming’ is out now via Belhaven Records.

Long Island Teenager Sandy Skye Netburn Releases Self-Directed Video for Folk-Pop Protest Song “Tunnel at the End of the Light”

Eric Alper
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Long Island Teenager Sandy Skye Netburn Releases Self-Directed Video for Folk-Pop Protest Song “Tunnel at the End of the Light”

Sandy Skye Netburn released her debut album ‘Issues’ on her 18th birthday last October, and the new self-directed video for “Tunnel at the End of the Light” brings fresh attention to one of its standout moments. The Long Island singer, songwriter, guitarist, and producer wrote, recorded, directed, filmed, and edited the entire project herself, and the video is packed with Easter eggs and visual clues into her creative world. “This song is widely open to interpretation,” she says, “but I wrote it about finding the good in hard times.”

‘Issues’ is a 14-track record of acoustic Americana folk-pop protest songs, written and produced entirely by Netburn with a wry wit and theatrical sensibility that draws comparisons to Joni Mitchell, Bob Dylan, and Nancy Wilson while remaining entirely her own. WoNoMagazine wrote that listening to her debut is “perhaps what people older than me experienced when they listened to Bob Dylan for the first time.” Worcester Magazine called her “an eternal flowerchild who sounds like a genuine product of the singer-songwriting, Summer of Love sixties,” with the caveat that she’s a Long Island teenager. That contradiction is exactly what makes the record interesting.

Netburn is a genuine multi-hyphenate, adding ventriloquism and a celebrity interview podcast series, Sandy & Friends, to her creative portfolio. She’s already drawn fans including The Monkees’ Micky Dolenz and The Runaways’ Cherie Currie, who pulled her onstage to perform “Cherry Bomb” at the 2023 NorthEast ComicCon.

‘Issues’ is out now on Bandcamp and all streaming platforms.

Hen Ogledd Release Haunting Third Album ‘DISCOMBOBULATED’ and Announce an 8-Hour Sound Ritual in London

Eric Alper
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Hen Ogledd Release Haunting Third Album ‘DISCOMBOBULATED’ and Announce an 8-Hour Sound Ritual in London

Hen Ogledd’s third album ‘DISCOMBOBULATED’ is out now via Weird World, and the critical response has been immediate and emphatic. Uncut gave it 9/10 and called it “a truly singular record.” Mojo awarded 4 stars. The Quietus declared the quartet makes “music that is quite literally beyond compare.” Wire calls it “the greatest musical and lyrical realisation yet of their diverse strengths.” For a band that has always operated at the outer edge of what folk, drone, and experimental music can do together, ‘DISCOMBOBULATED’ represents a genuine peak.

The album arrives alongside “End of the rhythm,” a new track and video directed by James Hankins, inspired by early 90s rave visuals and 3D computer animation of that era. The song evokes a chaotic dance capable of transcending enclosure and moving toward rapture, release, and healing, anchored by Dawn Bothwell’s declaration that “They want us to fail, but workers can win.” It’s a fitting entry point into a record that balances political fury with warmth and accessibility in equal measure.

Hen Ogledd, the collaborative project of Dawn Bothwell, Rhodri Davies, Richard Dawson, and Sally Pilkington, has been coalescing since Davies and Dawson began working together in 2013, with the full quartet coming together ahead of 2018’s debut ‘Mogic.’ ‘DISCOMBOBULATED’ is their most emotionally charged record yet, moving through political tumult, personal crisis, and mental wellbeing with the complex, moving intelligence the band has made their signature. By turns emphatic and vulnerable, joyous and furious, it’s also their most accessible.

The album is available on DomMart-exclusive pink vinyl with signed art print, standard vinyl, CD, and digitally.

The most extraordinary event attached to this release is still ahead. On June 6th, Hen Ogledd will perform DISCOMBODURATION, an 8-hour sound ritual at The Horse Hospital in London, running from 2pm to 10pm. The extended un-concert splinters ‘DISCOMBOBULATED’ through prisms of drone, improvisation, dance, kinetic sculpture, dream-pop, and what the band describes as “horrible stuff, coo-ing and large blasts.” Artist Rachael MacArthur brings costume and a life-size pop-up book set to create a psychogenic fantasy episodic landscape across each stage of the performance. Audiences can attend for the full 8 hours or drop in at their own peril. RSVP is open now.

‘DISCOMBOBULATED’ is out now via Weird World. DISCOMBODURATION takes place June 6th at The Horse Hospital, London.

Balderdasch’s ‘Stillness Gyrating’ Is a Brutally Honest, Shape-Shifting EP About the Awkward Mechanics of Intimacy

Eric Alper
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0
Balderdasch’s ‘Stillness Gyrating’ Is a Brutally Honest, Shape-Shifting EP About the Awkward Mechanics of Intimacy

Balderdasch has released ‘Stillness Gyrating,’ a 6-track EP out now on all platforms, and it arrives as one of the more distinctive releases in the experimental pop space this year. Self-produced by Balderdasch with additional production and mixing by Pete Wareham, whose credits include The Smile and Nadine Shah, and mastered by Jamie Hyland of M(h)aol, the record covers avoidant and attached lovers, non-monogamy, and toxic inter-class relationships with wry humor, intimacy, and genuine sonic ambition.

The EP shape-shifts constantly across its runtime, moving from the folk-leaning Joni Mitchell-referencing “seeking arrangements” through the grunge-fueled sample chaos of “pimp” and into the electro-industrial abrasion of “homoerotic.” Brash and sleazy moments sit alongside tenderness and introspection across a record that mirrors the messy, contradictory ways intimacy actually works. Balderdasch is deliberate about the lyrical approach: “I set out to write lines that felt almost embarrassing for me to say out loud, brutally honest moments that make me wince a bit when I hear them back. I’d go on a date, come home and document it, warts and all.”

The EP’s closing track “Not Again, But For The First Time” arrives with a visualiser directed by Matt Spratt, filmed across London as Balderdasch wanders with no fixed destination after finishing an office job. The song details becoming capable of love precisely when there’s nowhere to place it, and the visual captures that aimless composure with real elegance.

Press has been paying attention. BBC Radio 6’s Emily Pilbeam called Balderdasch “quite special.” DIY likens her to Jockstrap and Lynks while noting her own unique take. The Line of Best Fit, RTE 2FM, and Nialler 9 have all added their voices to a growing critical conversation around one of Irish-London experimental pop’s most interesting emerging artists.

‘Stillness Gyrating’ is out now everywhere.

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That Eric Alper

Eric Alper is a 6-time nominee for Publicist of the Year during Canadian Music Week and has overseen the publicity campaigns for over 183 JUNO Award-nominated albums (and 16 in 2025), 45 Grammy-nominated albums, including 47 JUNO Award, 58 Canadian Folk Music Award, 126 Maple Blues Award-winning albums and is also truly honoured to work with some of the biggest and most important artists of our time.

Contact me: eric@thatericalper.com

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