ARCTIC MONKEYS / OPENING NIGHT

So, only days after we looked back twenty years to the release of the debut album by the Arctic Monkeys, they've made big news in the music world by teaming up with Warchild records to release their first single in four years, 'Opening Night'.

The brand new track is set to join several others performed by an ensemble cast of indie greats and music icons, for an upcoming LP release appropriately named 'Help 2' set for release on March 6th 2026. This amazing charity effort is the follow up to the original 'Help' album released in 1995 and will continue to raise money for children affected by war, just as the Warchild brand has always done so impactfully.

The track is a subtle, dark and brooding effort, which even now feels like a wonderful opener for such a project, increasing curiosity and stealing attention towards the cause and of the upcoming LP. If this is how it starts, how on earth does it proceed?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ip3aH_PAKQs

Arctic Monkeys have reached for a sound that suits the mood perfectly but whilst also strangely journeying through a lot of different sounds, elements and attributes that have made the band what they are. Considering we celebrate 20 years of the debut album on the 23rd of January, they manage to have captured a piece of every single iteration of the band. From a welcome return of Alex Turners Yorkshire drawl, reminiscent of the beginning, as opposed to that crooning art pop delivery of latter albums, to sharp and articulate lyrics consistent of the two decades of song writing. It see's an interesting electronic intro that'd suggest a lean towards latter albums like '..Hotel & Casino or 'The Car', but as the track progresses it falls further towards guitar riffs and vocal harmonies. A band like Arctic Monkeys who's seen such an evolution of flavours, similar to Bob Dylan or Kings of Leon, always makes you compare to a time gone by. This has tones of almost each stop on the twenty year journey of The Arctic Monkeys but whilst remaining cool, calm and keeping the motivation in mind.

Does it suggest a return, and possibly new music for Arctic Monkeys? Well that'll become clear as 2026 continues on. But what we do know is that 'Help 2' will be a project, not to be missed, with a cause and it's content both as substantial as each other.

Check out our retro review of Arctic Monkeys debut album 'Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not' right here

Article by Stuart Green