Mike Peters of The Alarm to play The Crescent, York

Mike is returning to the stage after a year dominated by pneumonia and a serious leukaemia relapse.

Today marks the release of the video, Forwards, the title track from the band’s forthcoming album, out on June 2.

And in the subsequent tour, he will be performing at The Crescent, in York.

“I literally took my guitar into hospital with me,” says Mike. “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.”

Mike Peters wrote the album while in hospital (Image: Supplied)

In between hospitalisation periods, Mike 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, Mike 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 on to 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).

The Alarm on stage (Image: Supplied)

“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 Mike.

“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 has been the driving force behind The Alarm for more than 40 years.

To this end, around the spring 2023 release of new album Forwards, Mike will present The Alarm [Acoustic] UK Tour. This will be a dynamic ‘evening with’ concert tour featuring a 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 live dates include a stop at York on June 8, when Mike will be appearing at The Crescent.