80s Music Central News

With his third solo album, Rise, Mike Peters has garnered some of the best reviews of his career. “When I left the Alarm [in the early Nineties], it was like going back into the underground,” says Peters. “I’ve been working in the vacuum for such a long time, and there’s only been a few close friends sticking by me for support, so it’s great to be here now doing all these interviews, having people talk about my record — it’s like, ‘All right! I've made it through, I've crossed the bridge.'” Rise represents a bigger triumph for Peters than critical acceptance, however. lt’s his personal affirmation of winding up on the winning end of a brief but worrisome battle with lymphoma cancer. Nearly every song is an anthem. The finished product crackles with a high voltage guitar and electronica-based rock best summed up by the title track, “White Noise.” Peters gives ample credit for the album’s sonic assault to guests like former Cult guitarist Billy Duffy, with whom Peters plays in a side-project called ColorSound (“lt is what it is,” he explains, “it’s the Alarm meets the Cult.”)