The Alarm – New Music and Summer Tour

Twenty First Century Recording Company (manufactured and distributed by InGrooves) is pleased to announce the release of “Two Rivers,” the brand new single from THE ALARM‘s upcoming album EQUALS (the band’s first album since 2010’s Direct Action). The video for the track debuted earlier this week at: STEREOEMBERSMAGAZINE.COM.

In a review, the website described the song as “a fiery reminder that The Alarm are one of the most durable outfits around and in Mike Peters, they have an iron man of a frontman whose smoldering musical passion echoes his steely will for getting through a world that hasn’t always delivered the kindest of news.”

“Two Rivers” is a bold, epic rock number featuring a brilliant, impassioned vocal by Mike Peters. At heart the song’s poignant message is about coming to terms with the past before moving forward to enjoy life to the full. It perfectly showcases THE ALARM‘s barnstorming new album EQUALS, which is very much a retrenchment of old values set in a modern context.

Photo Credit: Andy Labrow

To promote EQUALS, THE ALARM are already out in the world playing the new songs and reconnecting with fans both old and new. A resurgent 2017 saw the release of the U.S. documentary movie “Man In The Camo Jacket” and the BBC’s “While We Still Have Time.” THE ALARM also took part in the Vans Warped Tour in the U.S. and made recent appearances at Glastonbury, Carfest and Isle Of Wight Festivals in the UK. Songs from the band’s illustrious catalogue have also featured in the soundtrack to Netflix sensational TV series “13 Reasons Why” attracting over 1.75 million new listeners to THE ALARM‘s Spotify page. THE ALARM‘s “Strength” is featured on the newly released soundtrack for season 2 and will be heard in the season finale.

THE ALARM have just completed a whirlwind tour of concerts on both sides of the Atlantic having just performed two sold-out nights at New York’s Gramercy Theatre and a second sell-out at the James Bridges Theatre at U.C.L.A. in Los Angeles with a 27-date North American summer tour just announced. The band perform in the UK on May 26with a one off Bank Holiday weekend concert at the 02 Forum in Kentish Town London and a homecoming in Wales on May 27, when the group headline the Merthyr Rising Festival in South Wales.

The message of “Two Rivers” is very pertinent to Mike Peters and his wife Jules, as new album EQUALS is a reflection of the tough times they have been through in recent years. Having recovered from lymph cancer in 1996, MIKE was diagnosed with a rare form of leukemia in 2005 and, after an initial recovery, he suffered a relapse in 2015. To compound an already terrifying situation, JULES, who plays piano and sings backing vocals, was diagnosed with breast cancer just after. All band activity was put on hold as the pair underwent treatment and it is only now, with both in remission, that THE ALARM are firing on all cylinders again. The emotional repercussions, though, are all too evident in the spirit of life-affirming optimism in the face of adversity that runs through EQUALS.

Produced by George Williams (who previously worked on 2005’s Under Attack), EQUALS opens with a torrent of epic rock numbers (“Two Rivers”and future single “Beautiful”). With MIKE and JULES joined by Joe Strummer & The Mescaleros drummer Smiley and guitarist James Stevenson, who cut his teeth with Chelsea, Gen X and The Cult, the album encompasses twin harmony guitars, pounding drums and electronic layering, while guest guitarist Billy Duffy (The Cult) helps PETERS and Stevenson blend acoustic and electric sounds on “Coming Backwards.”

EQUALS is the latest chapter in an inspirational story that has seen THE ALARM sell six million albums while clocking up 17 Top Fifty singles in the UK. Formed in 1981 in the Welsh seaside resort of Rhyl, the band broke through on the back of singles like “Sixty Eight Guns” and “Rain In The Summertime,” their music a passionate blend of amped-up acoustic guitars, harmonica and Mike’s stirring voice. A string of successful albums saw them perform alongside U2, The Waterboys, Simple Minds and Big Country as part of Eighties rock’s distinctive Celtic fringe. After an emotional swansong at Brixton Academy in 1991, the original members went their separate ways, with Mike launching a solo career and joining forces with Billy Duffy in the short-lived band Coloursøund. The lingering allure of his old group proved hard to resist, however, and Peters entered a new millennium back at the helm of The Alarm. The group’s activities since that 1999 re-launch have included an ambitious album project, the Poppy Fields Bond, that saw them release five CDs in five months in 2003 and a ‘fake band’ escapade the following year in which they concealed their true identity by releasing a single, 45 RPM, as The Poppy Fields. They created a global news story when the song unexpectedly hit the UK charts.

Today, with MIKES‘s health now back on an even keel and JULES in remission, THE ALARM are already promoting EQUALS with characteristic vigour. PETERS wouldn’t want it any other way. Not long after his second diagnosis, he founded a charity foundation, Love Hope Strength, and has since registered over 170,000 individuals to the International Bone Marrow Donor Registry. A man who refuses to be beaten, his drive in adversity is truly something special.

THE ALARM‘S 2018 North American tour dates are as follows: