Press release 28th January 2021
The album released in the following formats.

THE ALARM – WAЯ [LOADED EDITION] 
Bespoke custom CD that will be delivered with the finished album, loaded and ready to be played at Maximum Volume on, or as close to the official release day as possible. WAЯ by THE ALARM will feature 10 brand new Alarm tracks including Protect and Survive, Crush, ‘Tribes [Stop The War], We Got This, Still Unsafe, Warriors and others that are still being created. Each copy of WAR by THE ALARM is individual and unique, featuring a hand painted cover signed by the artist – Mike Peters. Pre-order and you will receive your copy as close to the official release date (February 26th), as humanly possible.

THE ALARM – WAЯ [ADVANCE RELEASE EDITION]
Bespoke custom CD-R Edition that will be dispatched immediately, allowing end users to create / burn a physical edition CD of WAЯ by THE ALARM on the day it is made complete. Owners of the Advance Release Edition will get to hear and play the finished album on February 25th (Mike Peters’ Birthday),  24 hours before the rest of the world. All 10 brand new Alarm tracks, including Protect and Survive, Crush, ‘Tribes [Stop The War], We Got This, Still Unsafe, Warriors and others that are still being created, will be sent to you digitally on Mike Peters’ Birthday (February 25th), so that you can be amongst the first people on the planet to own the new album by The Alarm. Each copy of WAR by THE ALARM is individual and unique, featuring a hand painted cover signed by the artist – Mike Peters. Pre-Order today and your advance copy will be sent to you immediately.

THE ALARM – WAЯ [HAND CUT LP EDITION]
Bespoke custom hand cut LP Edition that will be made on an individual (first come first served), basis, one at time. These unique 10 track LP’s of WAR by THE ALARM will be hand cut at a studio in Northern England and once created, will be sent out immediately. We anticipate that 30 pre-cut LP  copies will be finished on February 24th, to arrive as close to release date as humanly possible (Taking into account delivery times for UK / overseas). All 10 brand new Alarm tracks, including Protect and Survive, Crush, ‘Tribes [Stop The War], We Got This, Still Unsafe, Warriors and others that are still being created, will be hand cut into the grooves of the LP to create an absolutely unique collector’s item for Alarm LP lovers. Each copy of WAЯ by THE ALARM is individual and unique, featuring a hand painted cover signed by the artist – Mike Peters. Pre-Order today and your hand cut LP edition will be sent to you as soon as possible.

These limited editions of ‘War’ will be the only physical copies of the album in existence.

THE ALARM – WAЯ [DIGITAL]
The brand new album WAЯ by THE ALARM will be released worldwide through all digital music suppliers on February 26th 2021. All 10 brand new Alarm tracks, including Protect and Survive, Crush, ‘Tribes [Stop The War], We Got This, Still Unsafe, Warriors and others that are still being created will be included on the digital release of WAЯ by THE ALARM.
Spotify subscribers can pre-save the album in advance here.
The Alarm – ‘WAЯ’ will be released on February 25th / 26th 2021.

Musicians & credits
Mike Peters – Vocals, acoustic and electric guitars, harmonica
Steve “Smiley” Barnard – Drums, percussion
James Stevenson – Electric guitar
George Williams – Bass guitar
Jules Jones Peters – Piano
Mark Taylor – Keyboards, Hammond organ
Benji Webbe – Vocals on Safe From Harm
Produced and Mixed by George Williams
Written and recorded 7th January 2021 to 14th February 2021 : Crusader Studio, Dyseth, Wales, Sunshine Corner Studios, Fleet England, Alycat Studios, Blackpool, England, Pink Gun Studio, London, England
Mixed 15th-19th February 2021 at Rock Hard Studios, Blackpool
Mastered 19th-21st February 2021 in Los Angeles by Howie Weinberg
Album artwork designed by Dan Shearn.
Hand cut vinyl album produced by The Cut House, Preston, England

Track listing
1. Protect And Survive
2. We Got This
3. Tribes [Stop The War]
4. Still Unsafe
5. Crush

6. Warriors
7. Fail
8. Gods and Demons
9. Safe From Harm
10. WAЯ [It’s Not Over Yet]

WAЯ by THE ALARM features an unexpected and “WAЯsome”  collaboration with Skindred frontman Benji Webbe.

Benji adds his distinctive South Wales rock tone to a cover of Massive Attack’s SAFE FROM HARM duetting with Mike Peters to dramatic effect. “Serious, Infectious and Dangerous“.
“As soon as I decided to cut this song, I thought of Benji“, says Mike Peters. “I’ve always admired his work with original band Dub War and followed his exploits in rock with Skindred. Benji and I are from the opposite ends of our country Wales, and between us we cross all the divides. I took a gamble and asked him to sing and within hours I was listening to this most incredible vocal. Like all of us in The Alarm, Benji was prepared and ready to make music in isolation so it all locked in really quickly.”

WAЯ by THE ALARM will also premiere as a special edition In Session Special from the legendary Rockfield Studios in Monmouth Wales. Presented by Jules Jones Peters, The Alarm will be performing all 10 songs from WAЯ and will be  interviewed about the last 50 days of writing, recording and release. The show will air on Saturday night at 9pm playing exclusively inside The Alarm Central which will also be free to view for all. Subscribers to The Alarm Central will be able to interact with Mike Peters personally before and after the show on the new Fan Wall in two special question and answer sessions.

Reviews

Graham Clark, Features Writer, Yorkshire Times, A Voice Of The North.
Published 24th February 2021- Review Link
The Alarm Rediscover The Hunger On New Album – War
You might have thought that Mike Peters, main man in The Alarm would have lost his hunger after fronting the Welsh band over the last 35 years plus – far from it on this surprise new album. The songwriter has lived through enough personal upsets over the years to let something like Covid19 get him down. Recorded, written and mastered in 50 days with the process only starting at the beginning of January this year, Peters and the band have come up with a selection of songs that lyrically deal with what we have all witnessed over the last 12 months from Covid to the storming of Washington by Trump’s supporters. With Peters always being a fan of The Clash, if the enigmatic band had still been together in 2021 chances are they would sound something like this.

“Whether you like it or not, the world has changed forever” cries out Peters on the opening line of Protect and Survive, the first track on the album. Like the majority of the album it needs to be played loud. Just when you were beginning to think who was going to record an album to document the living history we have endured, The Alarm come along – and as always, keep the faith. Tribes (Stop The War) is the type of song U2 should be recording these days as Peters observes “Capitol Hill is occupied, flags are upside down” on a track that combines The Rolling Stones’ Sympathy For The Devil with plenty of social comment to boot. Crush carries on with the optimistic vibe running throughout the album as Peters gives out a rallying cry to the tribes “you can’t crush us all” he sings. From anyone else it might sound trite but when it is sung over a rousing melody with Peter’s conviction it is hard not to resist. Warriors even has a techno section towards the end of the song showing that the band are not afraid to delve into new genres, ditto the ska rhythm on Fail, “there’s always someone waiting for you to fail” sings the underdog on this joyous number. Fellow Welshman Benji Webbe from the band Skindred turns up on a cover of the Massive Attack track, Safe From Harm, it sounds not as dark as the original version as Webbe adds a menacing touch. All that is left is the final track War ( It’s Not Over Yet) as the song observes the battle against the virus is not over yet – or against any other struggle either. Hopefully in England at least come 21st June we all might have our freedom back again.

With the album being released on 25th February ( Mike Peter’s birthday) he might be another year older but the spirit of ‘76 is as strong as ever with this album of strength, solidarity and survival.
I rate the album 4 out of 5.

The Alarm – WAЯ by James Edmond 25^th February 2021 – Scottish Music Network Review link
Looking for that album, the one that will give you hope for a new normal around the corner, War from The Alarm is the Strength you need to see you through the coming months. Written and recorded in 50 days during lockdown, to be released on 26/02/21, the birthday of lead singer Mike Peters, it’s been all go from the turn of the year.

War has everything you could imagine from The Alarm and lot’s more, opening with “Protect and Survive” with a build-up leading from Guitars, bass then drums before The Alarm frontman Mike Peters sings “whether you like it or Not”, foot tapping and nodding along, this captures you and opens the album perfectly. “We Got This”, introducing Keys and Harmonica bringing out a stadium / arena sound, great lyrics “Take a shot in the Arm”, “We got this and were all going to make it”, a song that gives hope,  bringing the realisation that the light at the end of the tunnel is coming soon. The album captures what is going on around the world today , bringing it all in together in one album “WAR”, “Tribes (Stop the War)” , remarkable song with powerful use of the haunting harmonica throughout the song, a song that really shows the diversity of The Alarm’s music and how they approach their writing style. “Still Unsafe” brings out the more powerful aspect of The Alarm with rock ballad and emotional lyrics.

“Crush” opens up with 70’s, 80’s rock riffs bringing solid power to the opening bars of the song before the powerful vocals from Mike Peters takes you on a journey through a rock n roll masterclass. Before ending with an eerie choir singing behind the main vocals.  “Warriors” is the stand out track from the album, a powerful song, full of passion with lyrics like “There is no Enemy”, “As I Cover my Mouth” & “Peace is a Counter Attack”. “Fail” A beautiful song with a catchy chorus will have you singing along from first listen. “Gods & Demons”, takes a slightly different direction musically, capturing and bringing you in as there is a lot more to the song than lyrics. It takes that second listen; this could well be the standout after you hear it a few times.

“Safe from Harm” featuring Benji Webbe (Skindred) covering the Massive Attack classic, this version could possibly be a single from the album, it has everything from the catchy chorus to the brilliant harmonies from both Mike Peters & Benji Webbe. It has a real American feel, singing and rapping the capturing lyrics “If you hurt What’s Mine” & “If you can free the World and Free My Mind”, it is a song you can see being played live and the audience singing back. The way life is at present it would have to be zoom until we come out of this lockdown. The Album closes with “War (It’s Not over Yet), a powerful way to end the album with a story of the lockdown and how to survive. It captures what we might see as a bad dream in years to come, with the strong chorus, “Everything is upside down and out of Control”.

The Alarm and Mike Peters have captured the last 12 months in which we all lived in a masterpiece of an album, written and recorded in 50 days, capturing the emotion of the situation bringing passion back with its guidance through the lyrics. Putting this altogether you will have the spirit to fight on for the new normal and the strength to survive.

The Alarm’s War : recorded in isolation but bursting with heart by Emma Johnston 26th February 2021
Loudersound review link
War (that’s Raw in reverse, spelling fans) is The Alarm’s rapid response to modern life.
At a time when delays are par for the course, you have to admire The Alarm’s dedication to instant gratification. The new album, written and recorded in isolation, will physically arrive with fans six weeks from its inception thanks to a pre-ordered CD-Rom they can burn themselves. In the age of streaming it’s adorably quaint.  War is very much a snapshot of the COVID era created by a man who knows more than a thing or two about survival against the odds. After months of governmental “hands, face, space”, frontman Mike Peters’ simplistic sloganeering on opener Protect And Survive (“it’s the only way to stay alive”) seems like a reasonable response. Black Crowes riffs and synths doing their best impression of Led Zeppelin’s string section bolster the rallying cry of We Got This, while the message of the Tribes [Stop The War] – a song so U2 it practically sneaks onto your iPhone without permission – is obvious, but one you really can’t argue with.  Glossing over an odd cover of Massive Attack’s Safe From Harm featuring Skindred’s Benji Webbe, which strips out the soul of the original in favour of baggy early-90s TOTP vibes, War is at its best sticking to its own tried and tested pop-rock path, one unencumbered by notions of cool but paved with plenty of heart.  

THE ALARM – WAЯ – by Pavlis 26/02/21 Outlineonline.co.uk review weblink
The Alarm played their first gig just under forty years ago. In the years since, there have been massive hits, a gig that was beamed live from the US into millions of homes around the world, splits, reunions and line-up changes. Vocalist/guitarist Mike Peters is the only member left from that debut gig but James Stevenson (Gen X, Cult, Chelsea and more), Smiley, Mark Taylor and Jules Jones Peters back him up in fine style.
Some might question the relevance of The Alarm in 2021.  Written, recorded and mixed in just fifty days, new album WAЯ is plenty relevant. I can’t lie, it isn’t going to change the future of music, keeping close to The Alarm’s original sound where folk was spliced with punk, injected with soul testifying and given big, BIG choruses but it is an invigorating call to arms. It crackles with urgency and energy and vitality on songs like Protect And Survive and Warriors, whilst the cover of Massive Attack’s Safe From Harm –  featuring Skindred’s Benji – is a brave and original take on a classic.
If this doesn’t do anything new, it does it in fine style and The Alarm equal, if not better, the young pups. Give it a go, you won’t be disappointed.
8/10

Rockfarbror by Thomas Cedergren 1st March 2021 Weblink to original review in Swedish
(Review translated from Swedish by google translate)
50 days later – a brand new album with The Alarm”
Do you have 50 days left during the pandemic?
Then you can do as Mike Peters and his The Alarm did – write, record and release a new album.

It’s now 40 years since The Alarm was formed in Rhyl, Wales, and they still deliver really good albums. There is ten songs on this album that Mike Peters, Jules Jones Peters, James Stevenson, Smiley Barnard and producer George Williams have put together. Protect and survive, We got this, Tribes (Stop the war), Still unsafe, Crush, Warriors, Fail, Gods and demons, Safe from harm, War (It’s not over yet). It’s pretty cool that The Alarm has managed to do this in 50 days. Some artists take five years to make an album with eight songs… Sure, after a first listen, it felt like they had been in a bit of a hurry, but the record grows and when you really sit down and listen to WAЯ a few times, it’s a nice record from Mike Peters & company again.

There is one song that stands out more than anyone else. It is a song that is as magically good as The Alarm can be. It’s Fail – and it’s a song that you get both U2 – and The Clash vibes from. The chorus feels like U2 and the punk reggae tones feel like something The Clash had done in the 1980s. At the same time, it will be that classic rock music with some folk feeling that makes The Alarm so good. Fail had easily taken a place on a Greatest hits record and that says quite a lot. Now one song does not make a whole record, but start with it and you have a really nice entrance to WAЯ which begins with Protect and survive. It starts cool with an electric guitar and drums and then it is pressed more and more. When then We got this kicks off and Peters sings “Stop what you’re doing to save your country // I take a shot in the arm to break this quarantine” you quickly understand that it is a record that gives us a picture of Peter’s view of the covid-19 pandemic and that we come out of it living in the end. The album ends with War (It’s not over yet) where he looks back to when the pandemic began. Everything is upside down and everything is out of our control and it is not over yet.Top three? Fail, Still unsafe and Warriors. Safe from harm, which is a cover of Massive Attack’s song and where Skindred’s Benji Webbee is involved and helps with the song, is very good.
4/5

The Alarm – WAЯ: Album Review by Mike Ainscoe 1st March 2021 – Atthebarrier weblink
Literally hot off the press. The writing and recording creative process beginning on 7^th January 2021, the idea that we experience the gestation and production, involved at various stages, is a unique one. Special times and special measures, and this is 2021. Mike Peters, along with band members James Stevenson (guitars) and Smiley (drums) The Alarm & producer George Williams, have bene writing and recording an album from scratch using their own isolation studios. Mike’s wife, Jules Jones Peters has been documenting the recording process and creating a very incisive fly-on-the-wall vision of Mike Peters and The Alarm at work, sharing regular videos online at the band’s website. It’s a long way from the big-haired flag flying of the Eighties when they were up with U2 and Simple Minds as a new generation and their road has been far from a smooth one. However, it’s a journey where Mike Peters has worked his socks off, staying true to a cause. The result is an album born from the DIY punk tradition and shows The Alarm still as spikey and vibrant as ever.

Released on Mike Peters’ birthday – belated greetings… – lest there be any confusion, the album is ‘War’ although the letter reversal fits nicely with the raw nature of it’s whole creation. To confirm that, Protect And Survive is a steely opening. A barrage of industrial noise, not dissimilar to arriving at Zoo Station. Yes, its raw and very live cum lo-fi presence will appeal and rouse the spirit of ’76 (or ’85) and hoists the flag for the ten-song set. Inevitably there’s a lyric that from the very off, is full of topical references. A hint of The Who and some Townsendesque defiance crops up on We Got This, as we shift into a cool little bass-led groove Tribes (Stop The War) and the declaration “democracy’s the only way we shall overcome.” Aside from the Townsend reference, Ian Hunter comes to mind with the delivery on the latter, while at times we move into the laconic territory inhabited by Richard Ashcroft.

Guitar heavy and heavy guitar anthems fly by, all accompanied by trademark Peters passion and commitment. “You can’t crush us all, We won’t be denied” he yells, enraged by the stay safe from harm, but lock yourselves down dichotomy. Warriors might be a distant cousin of All Along The Watchtower; a vision of a dystopian/apocalyptic landscape. Packed with warnings and handy little tips from Chairman Peters – “don’t let yourself be fooled by your Gods and your demons” – it’s perhaps no surprise that The Alarm has earned a reputation for fist-pumping defiance.

Welsh compadre, Benji Webbe from Skindred, adds some menace to a cover of Massive Attack’s Safe From Harm and along with the dramatic dynamics of the title track, makes an intense pairing to close the album. It comes as a reminder that this isn’t a bad point at which to (re)discover The Alarm. Embrace the new rule of engagement. The Alarm. Warriors for our times

(Page updated 23/05/2021)