For its tenth edition, the cult charity auction returns with 700 one-off record sleeves from the likes of Murugiah, Clare Twomey, and Thierry Noir. And you won’t know who designed yours, or which song is inside, until you’ve won it.
It’s been a highlight of our creative community for a decade, and it’s back once more with the same much-loved format: an anonymous auction featuring some of our favourite artists and designers.
If you’ve somehow been living under a rock, here’s how Secret 7″ works. Seven tracks from seven well-known musicians are each pressed 100 times onto seven-inch vinyl – 700 records in all. Artists, illustrators, designers, and the odd musician are then invited to create a one-off sleeve for each one. The catch (and the joy) is that it all stays secret. You bid on the sleeve you love, not the name behind it, and the artist and the track are only revealed once the record is in your hands. You could walk away with a superstar’s song wrapped in a legend’s artwork, or an emerging name you’ll be glad you spotted early on.
These days, War Child is behind the project. But Secret 7″ was founded in 2012 by Kevin King and Jordan Stokes, set up while King was working at Universal Music. It’s why the music has always come from the Universal catalogue. It ran for seven editions until 2020, raising over £500,000 and gathering sleeves from the likes of Sir Anish Kapoor, Yoko Ono, Sir Paul Smith, and Ai Weiwei along the way. War Child revived it in 2023, and this is the third edition under the charity… making it the tenth in all.
This year’s seven tracks come from John Lennon, The Last Dinner Party, Gabrielle, The Maccabees, Skin, Glass Animals, and Bastille – with Lennon’s ‘Out the Blue’ and The Last Dinner Party’s ‘Let’s Do It Again!’ among the songs hidden inside.
A gloriously broad line-up
Ok, so the roster of visual artists for 2026 will mean you’ll want to bid on everything. Ceramist Clare Twomey MBE, French muralist Thierry Noir – whose elongated faces became a symbol of resistance across the Berlin Wall – and British Sri Lankan multidisciplinary artist Murugiah sit alongside graphic designer Anthony Burrill, New York-based British artist Jon Burgerman, and Liverpool creative Sumuyya Khader. All well-loved and familiar names to us all.
There are sleeves from The Connor Brothers, Joy Yamusangie, Ken Nwadiogbu, Joey Yu, and Welsh artist Pete Fowler, best known for his Super Furry Animals artwork. Andy Vella, who has been making covers for The Cure for more than 40 years, has returned to the project, having supported it since 2012. Ben Kelly, the interior designer behind Manchester’s legendary Haçienda, has created one, as have artist, poet, and director LionHeart, photographer Rebecca Zephyr Thomas, and Chris Lloyd, known for sketching live concerts.
There’s a lovely thread of musicians who’ve crossed into art, as well. The Maccabees’ frontman, Orlando Weeks, has made a sleeve, as has Justine Frischmann, who co-founded Suede and fronted Elastica before leaving music for a career as a visual artist.
One extra detail for collectors this year: every record carries an exclusive B-side etching by Murugiah, whose candy-coloured, South Asian-influenced work spans film, architecture, art, and design.
The artists on their sleeves
Clare Twomey’s contribution might be the most radical of the lot. “The work is composed from Wedgwood blue Jasperware dust, produced by grinding precious Wedgwood objects into pigment,” she tells Creative Boom. For her, the material speaks directly to the song it accompanies. “Hope can be understood as a reconsideration of what appears fixed or permanent; through acts of imaginative reconstruction, new spaces for contemplation and possibility can emerge.”
Jon Burgerman, who has taken part more than once, sums up the appeal. “Every time I’ve contributed, I’ve been equally excited for the exhibition, to see if anyone can spot my sleeve, and that all of this art will be going to such an important cause,” he says.
For Murugiah, part of the fun is the mystery itself. “To know that most customers of the auction will not know which artist has designed which sleeve and for which song … it’s such a fun thing to be a part of,” he says, “and to create a piece of art that is tangible and tactile in this ever-growing digital world we live in.”
More than the art
For War Child, the auction means more than the sleeves. “Secret 7″ continues to demonstrate the powerful role that creativity can play in driving positive change, even in some of the most dangerous parts of the world,” says the charity’s fundraising and engagement director, Charlotte Nimmo. “We’re hugely grateful to the exceptional artists who have contributed their talent to this year’s campaign.”
The money funds mental health support, emergency aid, education, and protection for children affected by conflict, with the charity and its local partners working in Sudan, Ukraine, Gaza, Afghanistan, the DRC, and elsewhere. More than 520 million children – one in five worldwide – have had their lives affected by conflict, according to War Child. Across its nine editions so far, Secret 7″ has raised over £900,000, and 100% of proceeds go directly to that work.
How to take part
All 700 sleeves will go on show at 180 Studios in London from 18 to 30 August 2026, with an online auction running from 18 August to 2 September. Find the one that stops you in your tracks, place your bid, and wait to discover what – and who – you’ve been lucky enough to win.
As for this year’s tracklist? You can see the full details over on the dedicated website. Personally? I’ll be bidding on something for The Maccabees. Good luck.
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