THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Forwards is the dramatic new album by The Alarm. Back to life after a year dominated by pneumonia and a serious leukaemia relapse, lead singer and songwriter Mike Peters is once again ready to lead the band as they present their new music to the world.
“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,” says Peters. “It was literally life or death making this record.
“I took my guitar into hospital with me,” he adds. “I was on the ward for such a long time, I started writing the songs for Forwards in between IV sessions and the first people to hear the music were, literally, the very people who were trying to keep me alive.”
In between hospital stays, 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 10 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.”
Nowhere is that clearer than on the song Next, which contains the forthright lyrics, “Whatever’s trying to kill me makes me feel alive.” Says Peters: “I’ve already taken so much from life, that when I was in hospital, 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 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 U.K. singles and over six million album sales worldwide. The previous three Alarm albums have all featured in the Top 10 of the British Rock Album Chart with Equals (No. 2 in 2018), Sigma (No. 1 in 2019) and Omega (No. 8 in 2022).”
