The Alarm releases "Live Today," the final video featuring the late Mike Peters

Make sure to check out the bittersweet video "Live Today,"  - the final music video filmed with the late Alarm frontman Mike Peters. A fantastic song and one that resonates powerfully...Robert Kinsler 

Releases “Live Today” The Final Video Featuring Mike Peters Who Passed Away April 2025 Premieres via Consequence New Album TRANSFORMATION To Be Released May 29, 2026 On Twenty First Century Recordings/Virgin Music Group Click above to watch the newly released "Live Today" music video APRIL 8, 2026 [New York, NY] – “Mike lived a life of beauty and never gave up right to the very end,” says Jules Peters, bandmate and wife of the late Mike Peters of THE ALARM who passed away on April 29, 2025. Following a fearlessly valiant 31-year battle with cancer, his monumental legacy continues with the release of TRANSFORMATION on May 29, 2026 on Twenty First Century Recordings/Virgin Music Group. Its latest single, “Live Today” premieres now via Consequence. Filmed just days before Mike underwent the innovative CAR-T treatment with hopes of eradicating Richter’s Syndrome, an aggressive form of lymphoma, “Live Today” is Mike’s final video. “As the sun rose, watching Mike perform this song with so much optimism and hope will live with me forever,” said Jules as she looks back. “It was a bittersweet day for me as we filmed this incredible joyous film on the beach in the North of England. After filming concluded, we climbed onto the tour bus and drove straight to the Christie Hospital in Manchester, U.K.. We were full of determination that the pioneering CAR-T would save Mike’s life but, at the same time, I was personally terrified as I couldn’t shake off a feeling that cancer had finally caught up with us both.” Mike Peters of The Alarm Photo credit: Andrew Labrow A poignant rallying cry, the video shows Mike performing without any hint of weakness, though his health was ailing at the time. “This video is such a difficult watch,” she says through tears. “It broke my heart… but it captures the eternal essence of Mike Peters that keeps us coming back to him and his incredible songs time after time.” Taken from the upcoming Transformation, “Live Today” is one of 12 prescient tracks that Mike gifts us through his passing. The recording sessions for Transformation began spontaneously on October 7, 2024, and after various life-interventions, it was finally completed on the evening of January 15, 2025 - the night before he began his CAR-T therapy. From the opening call to arms “New Life,” The Alarm roars vibrantly to life. Originally intended as an optimistic song to herald the triumph over cancer to be released after he had beaten cancer successfully again, it instead carries a new sort of poignant breath as he sings “I’ll see you in the new life.” First single “Chimera” was poised as an allegorical rebirth when it was released on January 23, 2025 - the exact day his CAR-T therapy began. Symbolically encapsulating the Greek mythos of a chimera which embodies the characteristics of different animals into one body, Mike envisioned that he himself would become like the fabled creature. “When I have CAR-T therapy I will literally become chimeric,” stated Mike at the time. “There will be two types of blood flowing inside of me. Two individual types of DNA.” Watch the "Chimera" music video  The classic ringing guitar progressions that made The Alarm household names in the ‘80s punctuates “Outlier” with Mike’s vocals showing no signs of wear. The anthemic and earnest “One In A Million” kicks off as a gorgeous hymn with the lyrics “one life, one heart, one soul” before counting down to a fiery chorus. It’s a fist-up outcry, the kind that the band built their initial acclaim with and made fans out of U2, Simple Minds, The Cult, among dozens of other renowned bands. The closing ballad “Love Makes Love” closes the album with a pensive note, the warmth of Mike’s voice acting as a final embrace. “Transformation is the finest Alarm album of all, written through adversity, with lashings of hope to stay strong, to believe, to keep moving forwards, to stay alive, to never be afraid and to welcome transformation,” says Jules. Described by Bono of U2 as “the second greatest rock and roll band in the world,” Mike Peters has been the driving force behind The Alarm for over forty creative years of new music making and dedication to presenting the band’s classic songs in ways both imaginative and inventive. A voice of defiance and hope both on and off the stage, Peters first rose to prominence in the early 1980s with The Alarm, whose powerful anthems like "68 Guns" and "Strength" helped define a generation of alternative rock. Known for their empowering anthems and heartfelt lyrics, The Alarm garnered a devoted international following, with Peters' raw vocals and commanding stage presence at the heart of it all, garnering number one rock album chart hits in the USA / UK and 4 albums in the top 10 with Equals, Sigma, Omega and Forwards. During a music career that spanned five decades, Peters performed with some of music’s greatest artists and bands including Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Bruce Springsteen and U2. Diagnosed with lymphoma in 1995 and later with chronic lymphocytic leukemia, Peters refused to let his illness silence him. Instead, he turned his fight into a mission to help others. Alongside his wife Jules, he co-founded Love Hope Strength, a music-driven cancer charity that revolutionized awareness and action around stem cell donation that continues beyond his passing. Through its innovative “Get On The List” campaigns—often hosted at rock concerts and even atop mountains—the charity has added over 400,000 people to the global stem cell registry and helped secure thousands of potential life-saving matches for patients worldwide.   While this may seem like the final chapter for The Alarm, Transformation promises that the legacy of The Alarm will transform into something larger. While Mike has gone out in a blaze of glory, his love, hope and strength continues on. Echoing the title of the new single,   Jules concludes, “Mike and the spirit of The Alarm will ‘Live Today,’ forever more. I invite you all to blast Transformation out loud. Imagine Mike in the room with you. Transformation is his battle cry, his resilient love of life. Right to the very end, Mike believed that he was going to live, to be totally free. My last memory is driving him open top along the North Wales coast road, playing Transformation at maximum volume. He was so happy. So full of life. Playing his air drums, bass guitar, already imagining himself on his next world tour. So keep that positive spirit moving forwards. Imagine him as you all knew him best, striding out on to that stage, changing lives one concert at a time. This is an album of hope and a passionate celebration of a life well lived. Please do not be sad. Mike wouldn’t want that. He was so proud of this album and had the best time recording it during the last six months of his life. Blast it out loud like Mike did. Play along to the track list and most of all, be happy that we all had Mike in our lives and continue to do so. The music of Mike and The Alarm will always keep us strong”.   “Live Today” is released, April 8, 2026. TRANSFORMATION will be released on May 29, 2026 via Twenty First Century Recordings/Virgin Music Group and is available for presale at the band's official webstore. album art TRANSFORMATION New Life Chimera Outlier Saviour Metaverse Wired One In A Million Live Today Soul Town In Unity To Be Alive Love Makes Love

New music: The National Parks, Chime School, Oasis

In this column I review three outstanding new audio titles available now.

Artist: The National Parks

Title: Wild Spirit (The National Parks)

You might like if you enjoy: The Lumineers, the National Parks

Tell me more: Beloved Americana quartet The National Parks are back with their newly-released sixth studio album, Wild Spirit. The Provo, Utah quartet — Brady Parks (vocals, guitar), Sydney Macfarlane (vocals, keyboards), Cam Brannelly (drums) and Megan Parks (violin) — utilize soaring harmonies, authentic musicianship, lush arrangements and compelling song craft to transport the listener to wide open vistas. Wild Spirit features a myriad of sweeping gems, including the romantic "Caves" and "Scenic Route," reflective title track, dreamy "Sightseeing," rollicking "Take A Hike" and buoyant "Hinterland Reverie." The National Parks embark on their "Wild Spirit Tour" beginning on Sept. 6 and there are early October dates in Southern California and Phoenix, AZ. The group is really a powerful live act, as this writer witnessed when they performed at the Pure Imagination Festival in Prescott, AZ in May 2024. Information: thenationalparksband.com. 

Artist: Chime School

Title: The Boy Who Ran the Paisley Hotel (Slumberland Records)

You might like if you enjoy: Rain Parade, Teenage Fanclub, The Dream Syndicate, Johnny Marr 

Tell me more: San Francisco-based power pop heroes Chime School is back with a wonderful new album, The Boy Who Ran the Paisley Hotel, a terrific follow up to singer-songwriter Andy Pastalaniec's 2021 self-titled debut. The songs across Chime School's sophomore full-length disc are uniformly melodic and glisten with a mix of dreamy moodscapes, jangly guitars, intoxicating rhythms and alluring song writing. Recorded by Pastalaniec himself at his home studio, "these songs are also very much rooted in the Bay Area of 2024, boasting both lyrical gestures to gentrification's destruction, beloved shuttered bars and theaters, as well as a songwriting collaboration with SF native Mike Ramos of Tony Jay/Flowertown fame on the album's penultimate song," according to a media release. This writer's favorites include the wonderful opener "The End," playful "Give Your Heart Away," Johnny Marr-flavored "Another Way Home," the reflective "Words You Say," propulsive 12-string guitar adorned "Say Hello" and wistful "Negative Monday." Information: slumberlandrecords.com. 

Artist: Oasis

Title: Definitely Maybe [30th Anniversary 2CD edition] (Big Brother Recordings)

You might like if you enjoy: Oasis, Blur, Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds, Paul Weller

Tell me more: August 30th saw the release of Oasis' Definitely Maybe (30th Anniversary) Deluxe Editions, an eagerly-awaited reissue of the British band's beloved 1994 debut released via Limited Edition Deluxe 4LP and Deluxe 2CD formats as well as as exclusive colored vinyl formats, cassette and digital — all formats include the 2014 remastered version of the album along with outtakes from the definitive album sessions at Sawmills Studios in Cornwall. Additional insight into the creation of the album by Liam Gallagher (vocals), Noel Gallagher (lead guitar, backing vocals), Paul Arthurs (rhythm guitar), Paul McGuigan (bass) and Tony McCarroll (drums) are early recordings of eight songs tracked at Monnow Valley Studio in 1993. 

The 2CD version reviewed here is definitely worthy of adding to any rock music lover's library; insightful liner notes penned by Hamish MacBain and colorful artwork featured in a 24-page booklet enhance the special reissue. Oasis' Definitely Maybe is truly one of the great debut albums of all time; timeless classics including a slew of winning singles ("Supersonic," "Shakermaker," "Live Forever" and "Cigarettes & Alcohol") and treasured album tracks ("Rock 'n' Roll Star," "Columbia" and "Slide Away") are as exhilarating in 2024 as they were when first heard in 1994. Disc 2 highlights abound including the Monnow Valley Studio takes on "Rock 'n' Roll Star," "Live Forever," "Up In The Sky" (the latter adorned by a psychedelic vibe), "Bring It On Down," and Sawmills Outtakes of "Columbia" and "Digsy's Dinner"; a beautiful acoustic-flavored recording of "Sad Song (Mauldeth Road West Demo, Nov. '92)" closes out the terrific reissue. The good news is the world will get to hear many of the Definitely Maybe classics when Oasis returns to play together live next year for the first time in more than 16 years as part of the "Oasis Live '25 Tour." Information: https://oasisinet.com/home/.

Robert Kinsler