More from LifestyleOne of the most anticipated contributions comes from Arctic Monkeys, who had remained silent since their 2022 album The Car. Their track “Opening Night” began life years earlier, when Alex Turner wrote fragments around the era of AM. The track feels like a bridge between two phases of the band’s sound, pairing nostalgic songwriting with the restraint of their recent work.
Elsewhere, Ford persuaded Damon Albarn to contribute despite his reservations about charity records. Albarn responded by turning the track “Flags” into a collective statement, bringing in Grian Chatten and Kae Tempest alongside a roomful of collaborators. The song captures the album’s ethos: voices overlapping, musicians improvising, and a sense that the creative chaos itself carries meaning.
Covers, reinventions and unlikely pairings
The record thrives on reinvention. Some artists revisit classic material; others unearth songs that had previously been left unfinished. Beth Gibbons offers a fragile interpretation of “Sunday Morning,” transforming the familiar melody into something hushed and mournful. Meanwhile, Arooj Aftab teams up with Beck for a haunting version of “Lilac Wine,” a track long associated with Nina Simone.
Other contributions lean toward experimentation. Black Country, New Road deliver a strange and textured folk-rock piece, while Depeche Mode reinterpret “Universal Soldier,” filtering the song through their stark electronic style. Even within a compilation, the album refuses stylistic consistency.
Many tracks emerged from spontaneous connections between artists. Jazz outfit Ezra Collective collaborate with Greentea Peng on the dub-tinged “Helicopters”, while Fontaines D.C. reinterpret “Black Boys on Mopeds,” a song by Sinéad O'Connor whose political writing resonates strongly today.
Later in the record, Pulp contribute “Begging for Change,” a track that had been lingering unfinished for years. The band’s frontman Jarvis Cocker finally completed the lyrics for this project, turning the song into a pointed reflection on social unease.
The power of love
The closing moments belong to Olivia Rodrigo, who performs “The Book of Love” with a live orchestral arrangement recorded at Abbey Road Studios. The performance is deliberately simple, echoing classic studio recordings over complex layered production.
Throughout the album, artists revisit old songs, unfinished ideas and unexpected collaborations to build something communal. Unlikely competitors come together to sing and do their bit to help save the world — and if we combine the thought of that with what we feel when we listen to music — well really, what is more beautiful?
