STACK #265 November 2026

MUSIC FEATURE

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HELP IS ON ITS WAY Fifteen Aussie acts rally together to raise money for War Child Australia.

S ome albums are about more than just the music. Following the massive success of the Help compilations in the UK, 15 Aussie artists have joined forces to create an album for War Child Australia, to help children affected by conflict around the world. The compilation, featuring previously unreleased tracks, is called Forever Young .

The album features some classic covers, with Missy Higgins offering her interpretation of The Church’s Under the Milky Way , The Temper Trap tackling The Triffids’ Wide Open Road , and Loose Content taking on The Saints’ groundbreaking (I’m) Stranded , a song that turned 50 this year. And Youth Group

Forever

Young by War Child is out Nov 20 via Virgin

Missy Higgins

Ruel

Photo credit: Emma Goodland

rework their 2006 cover of Alphaville’s Forever Young , with a little help from Paul Mac. The record also features contributions from Paul Kelly, King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard, Ruel, Sarah Blasko, Grace Cummings, and Augie March’s Glenn Richards. War Child says its programs reached more than one million people in 2025, including 663,971 children. The Aussie album follows this

ORIGIN STORY

War Child started in 1993 in response to the war in the former Yugoslavia. War Child Australia started in 2002 as part of the international War Child family. The charity’s goal? For no child’s life to be torn apart by war.

Paul Kelly

Photo credit: Dean Podmore

year’s Help(2) , featuring UK and Irish artists, which was a Top 20 hit on the Australian charts. War Child Australia says, “100

per cent of proceeds support children living through conflict. Because no child should be part of war. Ever.” Jeff Jenkins

FULL CIRCLE The mighty Midnight Oil return to a legendary Sydney venue for a classic live album.

The original Head Injuries was Midnight Oil’s first Top 40 album, hitting number 36. The Oils have had 16 Top 10 albums, including six chart-toppers.

CHART FACT

Midnight Oil

I n 2016, they put the band back together, announcing a world tour, The Great Circle, for the following year. To launch the run of shows – which included 16 countries - Midnight Oil returned to an old stomping ground, Selina’s at the Coogee Bay Hotel. On Thursday, April 13, 2017, the Oils blazed through 29 songs, including eight from their second album, 1979’s Head Injuries (with Naked Flame the only omission). Those eight songs – plus the classic

Oils’ live set, including Cold Cold Change, Stand in Line, Back on the Borderline, No Reaction, and Section 5 (Bus to Bondi) . “ Head Injuries was everyone pulling in the same harness, paring down the songs to reflect the intensity of the live performance that, in the absence of healthy record sales, were keeping the wolf from our door,” Peter Garrett reflected in his autobiography Big Blue Sky . This live record captures one of Australia’s greatest bands in full flight – and stands as a poignant reminder of the power of the Oils’ rhythm section. Sadly, bass player Bones Hillman died in 2020, and we lost drummer Rob Hirst earlier this year. Radio legend Richard Kingsmill was in the crowd that April night. “The intensity of

Garrett was razor sharp,” wrote the former triple j programmer. “For years, he had been far away from music, navigating the political stage. Free from those confines, he and the band let fly, with a stack of fire still in their belly and plenty of cathartic venom from the singer’s mouth.” Jeff Jenkins Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is a massive Midnight Oil fan. When he was a young man, Albo loved seeing the band at Selina’s. He would sleep on the beach at Coogee if he missed the last bus home. POWER & PASSION

Photo credit: Oliver Eclipse

instrumental Wedding Cake Island , which first surfaced on the 1980 EP Bird Noises - have now been collected on a killer live album. Head Injuries featured a stack of songs that would become staples of the

Head Injuries (Live at Selina’s) by Midnight Oil is out Nov 27 via Sony Music

Selina’s has showcased live music for more than five decades. Sydney bookmaker Terry Page bought the Coogee Bay Hotel in 1975 and named the club after his daughter Selina.

HOT VENUE

62 NOVEMBER 2026

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