Artist: The Alarm
Title: Forwards (Twenty First Century Recording Company)
You might like if you enjoy: The Alarm, U2, Big Country, The Poppy Fields
Tell me more: Listening to Mike Peters' genuinely inspired and hopeful songs that soar across the Alarm's wonderful new album Forwards is to be filled with faith that each of us has worth and an inner strength to overcome any challenges that come our way. The anthemic rocker "Another Way" rings true as Peters sings: "Have you heard the news that it's all over/Have you heard them say, there's no way out of here? I don't believe it, there's always another way."
Although Peters' first battled lymph cancer in the mid-1990s and more recently beginning in late 2022, the 64-year-old Wales-based artist sounds as amazing as ever. The majority of songs on Forwards were written by Peters in the hospital while he was undergoing chemo and battling cancer. On the gorgeous "Love and Forgiveness" he poignantly sings "I'm a man who's lost control of all that he owns/are you going to give me love and forgiveness?"
The propulsive post-punk rocker "Next" reinforces Peters' survival mindset and his palpable joy at embracing life; "All the clocks are set to zero, now's the time to run/I hear the crack of the starting gun and I'm ready for what's next." Other great tracks on the album include the driving title track, the confessional "The Returning," survival-themed "Transition" and fiery "Love Disappearing."
Peters (guitar, lead vocals, harmonica), James Stevenson (guitar, backing vocals), Jules Jones Peters (piano, organ, strings, backing vocals) and Smiley (drums, percussion, backing vocals) have created a masterful album that is a welcome and marvelous addition to the Alarm's terrific discography. Information: TheAlarm.com. 
Robert Kinsler
