Foals, The Vaccines, Wolf Alice and more join up for 'Songs for the National Health Service'
The proceeds are going towards specialist, reusable PPR equipment for NHS key workers
Last updated 1st May 2020
With the UK currently in lockdown, musicians up and down the country are keeping themselves busy in various ways - take Noel Gallagher, for example. He had a spring cleaning session yesterday, and discovered an old Oasis demo called 'Don't Stop' he thought had been lost forever; he's now released it and there's new Oasis music in the world again for the first time in over a decade.
Now, British Indie bands have come together at this rather strange time to help raise funds for the NHS - with all proceeds going towards specialist, reusable PPR equipment for NHS key workers.
Foals, Wolf Alice, The Vaccines, The Wombats and The Magic Gang among others have all come together to work on tracks exclusively for the album, with a mix of special covers, remixes, live tracks and demos that are apparently not available anywhere else, and the majority are being made available for the very first time.
Official information from the organisers reads, 'Songs For The National Health Service is working in partnership with Dr. Natalie Watson at University Hospital Lewisham, as she launches the Hoods for Heroes campaign.
'Our initial target of £30,000 will provide enough ‘PAPR’ (powered air purifying respirators) to help fully stock Lewisham Greenwich NHS Trust (site of the UK’s first confirmed Covid-19 patient), Mid Yorkshire NHS Trust and University Hospital Crosshouse, Scotland.
'All money raised beyond that will provide equipment for further hospitals and regions based on need, not only helping safely treat victims of Covid-19, but enabling NHS teams to restart time-critical head and neck cancer surgery.
'The artists hope this album will not only raise funds, but also serve as a keepsake of our indebtedness to the NHS and its staff working tirelessly and courageously through this difficult time. In the future we must do much more to ensure they are funded and paid properly, and forever treated with the respect they deserve.'
The full list of contributors is as follows: Foals, Wolf Alice, Baxter Dury, The Vaccines, The Big Moon, The Wombats, Sports Team, The Magic Gang, Spector, Swim Deep, The Orielles, Nilüfer Yanya, Alfie Templeman, Oscar Lang and Pixx and Jessica Winter.
The tracklist for the album is:
Foals – 'White Onions' (Live from Alexandra Palace)
The Vaccines – 'Internet Disco' (Feat. Agent Emotion)
The Big Moon – 'Big' (Demo)
Wolf Alice – 'Another Girl, Another Planet'
Baxter Dury – 'So Much' (Demo)
Swim Deep – 'Lexington Slowdown'
Nilüfer Yanya – 'Baby Blu' (Giles Peterson Remix)
The Orielles – 'Bobbi’s Second World' (Demo)
The Magic Gang – 'Club Tropicana'
Spector – 'Extra Life'
Sports Team – 'Itchicoo'
Park Alfie Templeman – 'Growing Up'
Pixx and Jessica Winter – 'Summer Wine'
The Wombats – 'Turn' (Acoustic)
Oscar Lang – 'Always In My Head'
The vinyl album will be available to pre-order here for £25.