Mike Peters interviewed by Music-News.com Editor - Marco Gandolfi - before his Union Chapel show as part of The Alarm [Acoustic] Tour on Tuesday June 6th 2023.
The Alarm’s Mike Peters returns to life after a year dominated by pneumonia and a serious leukaemia relapse, with the release today of the video to ‘Forwards’, the title track from their forthcoming album, out 16 June.
“I literally took my guitar into hospital with me,” says Peters. “I was on the ward for such a long time, I started writing these songs in between IV sessions and the first people to hear the music were the very people who were trying to keep me alive.”
In between hospitalisation periods Peters took the band into the recording studio with producer George Williams and although barely able to speak due to the debilitating effects of chronic illness, Peters was able to focus the sessions on creating the music for ten new life affirming Alarm songs.
“I’ve been to places only deep suffering can take the human spirit and, in the darkness, I clung onto every piece of light I could find to work my way back to life. This was the energy that drove me to write and record Forwards.”
Forwards is alive with melody and invention and destined to contend for a top place amongst The Alarm’s extensive discography, one that boasts over 17 Top 50 UK singles and over six million album sales worldwide. In fact, the previous three Alarm albums have all featured in the Top 10 of the British Rock Album Chart with Equals (number 2 in 2018), Sigma (number 1 in 2019) and Omega (number 8 in 2022).
“A lot of artists have to kill to make a record like Forwards and with the challenges that came my way in 2022, I certainly had to kill or be killed, to realise the ambition in these songs. It was literally life or death making this record.”
“I’ve already taken so much from life, that when I was in hospital stricken with chronic illness, I wasn’t sure if I was going to be spared another opportunity to live. Fortunately for me, I was granted more time on earth and the challenge remains as ever, to make the most of every single second – FORWARDS.”
Forwards Tracklist: Pre-order here. 1. Forwards 2. The Returning 3. Another Way 4. Love and Forgiveness 5. Next 6. Whatever 7. Transition 8. Love Disappearing 9. New Standards 10. X
FORWARDS will be released by The Twenty First Century Recording company, distributed by Ingrooves, and physically on both CD and Vinyl with the LP release featuring two different record sleeves / coloured vinyl configurations. A classic green / white star / white vinyl edition (Mike’s healing colour combo), is being made available to outlets everywhere along with a unique Metallic / Green vinyl limited edition available exclusively to independent record stores only.
