Four weeks ago The Alarm set to work on their latest album, War, which is scheduled for release on 25/26 February. Now, in order to combat production times and to have physical product available immediately, the band are to advance release the LP without music, in a special CD-ROM format, where fans can burn their own copy of the finished record

The LP’s writing and recording creative process only commenced on 7 January 2021, but the band promises finished tracks will be sent electronically to fans once the final mix and mastering process has taken place. 

War is also available to pre-order as a hand-cut vinyl LP which will be released to fans on 25 February (Alarm lead vocalist/guitarist Mike Peters‘ birthday). 

Peters, along with band members James Stevenson (guitars), Smiley (drums) and producer George Williams, are currently writing and recording the record from scratch using their own isolation studios. Peters’ wife, Jules Jones Peters, has been documenting the recording process and creating a fly on the wall vision of Mike Peters and The Alarm at work, sharing regular videos online at www.thealarm.com 

“The record is really starting to take shape”, says the singer. “The responsive nature of the writing and recording situation has given rise to some radical thinking on how to instantly release the album into the modern world and also across all the major formats – stream, download, CD and LP.” 

To release the album on vinyl, a specialist cutting-house has been engaged to hand-cut as many pre-ordered vinyl copies as possible, once the final master has been cut in Los Angeles by Howie Weinberg (Howie mastered The Alarm’s 2019 album ∑ Sigma, which entered the UK Rock Chart at No.1). 

The digital edition of War is being distributed internationally by InGrooves who have already paved the way for this groundbreaking release to appear on all digital service provider platforms on 26 February. 

As the artwork has been created in advance, each CD/LP will also have the album title and band logo painted onto the cover by Mike Peters personally, with the tracklisting left intentionally blank so that fans can write in the song titles themselves, once they receive the completed work. “

“I really want the fans to have access to this album as soon as it’s finished”, says Peters. “We have set ourselves a very tight deadline, and the music is already being created out in the open for all to see and hear. The technology is there so that fans who still have access to a CD burner and wish to get involved in the spirit of the project can do so by interacting with the creative process and play their own part in bringing this new Alarm album into the world.” 

The Alarm – ‘WAЯ’ is available to order/pre-save now exclusively via www.thealarm.com