Foals have shared the first preview of “When The War Is Finally Done”, their contribution to the ambitious solidarity project Help(2), a collective album powered by War Child that will see the light of day on March 6, 2026.
The song marks Foals’ first unreleased material since Life Is Yours (2022) and arrives accompanied by a brief black-and-white teaser that underscores the solemn, almost liturgical tone of the piece: foreground strings, emotional restraint and a narrative that looks at war from an unusual place in contemporary rock.
A song narrated from the after
As explained by vocalist Yannis Philippakis, When The War Is Finally Done was written in 2019 after immersing himself in the work of the so-called trench poets, such as Wilfred Owen or Rupert Brooke.
“The song is sung from beyond. The voice is that of a young soldier sent to war, forced to endure the unbearable,” Philippakis explains.
“Watch the world slowly return to normal as the bombing ends. A train is running again. Someone keeps an appointment. Life goes on – at what cost?”
Far from explicit drama, Foals opt for a suspended, almost ghostly look that connects with the present: a world that assimilates violence as background noise while millions of lives are detained in an irreversible “dead time”.
Help(2) and music against oblivion
Help(2) is the spiritual follow-up to the landmark 1995 album HELP, produced by Brian Eno, which brought together Oasis, Blur, Radiohead and Portishead and raised over £1.25 million for children affected by armed conflict.
Thirty years later, James Ford (Arctic Monkeys, Blur, Gorillaz) has been in charge of producing and coordinating this new release, largely recorded during an intense week of work at Abbey Road Studios in November 2025.
The project was born in a particularly urgent context: today 1 in 5 children in the world is directly or indirectly affected by war.
All artists participating in Help(2)
The album brings together more than 30 international artists, signing one of the strongest and most diverse lineups of recent years:
- Arctic Monkeys
- Foals
- Damon Albarn
- Graham Coxon
- Anna Calvi
- Arlo Parks
- Arooj Aftab
- Bat For Lashes
- Beabadoobee
- Beck
- Beth Gibbons
- Big Thief
- Black Country New Road
- Fontaines D.C.
- Grian Chatten
- Johnny Marr
- King Krule
- Nilüfer Yanya
- Olivia Rodrigo
- Pulp
- Sampha
- The Last Dinner Party
- Wet Leg
- Young Fathers
(among others)
Music as active memory
More than a compilation, Help(2) functions as an emotional archive of the present, where each song is an artistic response to the structural violence of the contemporary world. In this context, Foals’ contribution stands out for its sobriety, depth and permanence.
“When The War Is Finally Done” does not seek immediate consolation or easy epicness. It is a song that lingers, that gently discomforts and forces you to listen carefully. Maybe that’s why it has waited years to see the light of day. Maybe now, sadly, was the time.
