The Alarm to play Tring Court Theatre
The Alarm’s Mike Peters returns to life after a year dominated by pneumonia and a serious leukaemia relapse, with the release of the video to ‘Forwards’, the title track from the band’s forthcoming album, out 2 June 2023.
‘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.’
New album ‘Forwards’ is alive with melody and invention and destined to contend for a top place amongst The Alarm’s extensive discography, one that boasts 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,’ says Peters.
‘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.’
Described by Bono of U2 as: ‘The second greatest rock and roll band in the world’, Mike Peters has been the driving force behind The Alarm for over forty creative years of new music making, and dedication to presenting the band’s classic songs in ways both imaginative and inventive.
To this end, around the spring 2023 release of new album ‘Forwards’, Mike Peters will present The Alarm [Acoustic] UK Tour. This will be a dynamic ‘evening with’ concert tour featuring a unique one-man band electro-acoustic performance style that has previously earned plaudits from fans and critics across the globe via a set list of songs from all eras of The Alarm discography.
The Alarm [Acoustic] UK Tour 2023 comes to Tring on Wednesday 31 May. Tickets here.
Last month The Alarm began a series of one-off events, premiering some of the forthcoming new material at the 30th Anniversary Gathering at Venue Cymru Arena in Llandudno, North Wales. This long-running and unique Alarm fan interactive event was completely sold-out, as is a previously-announced special night at Cardiff’s St. David’s Hall on 15 April.
More dates and special one-off shows for later in the year to be announced soon.
Image © Stuart Ling 2023