THE Alarm frontman Mike Peters has confirmed a side project for the follow-up release of a 1999 album.

COLOURSØUND II is the brand-new album from the alt-rock songwriting project by Billy Duffy of The Cult and Mike Peters of The Alarm.

With a release date set for July 16, COLOURSØUND II is a record of raw power, utilising the rock genre’s simple but effective components of guitar, vocals, bass and drums.

Closing a gap of twenty years between their first record and now, the creative partnership of Billy Duffy and Mike Peters was originally forged in 1997 when neither were aligned to the groups with whom they are equally synonymous.

By the time they had written and released their first album COLOURSØUND back in 1999, both Billy and Mike had returned to fly their banners with The Cult and The Alarm respectively.

“You could say that our songwriting partnership was born outside of wedlock”, said Mr Peters. “When we first started working together in the late 1990s we had no allegiance to either The Cult or The Alarm. We were drawn to write instinctively together, Billy drove the music from a guitar perspective and I would add lyrics and vocals affected by being in the presence of someone who had followed a similar life journey and been affected, as I had, by the turbulence of the rock and roll existence.”

The original Coloursøund album was released in 1999 and over the two decades since, grew a reputation all of its own - forever linking Billy Duffy and Mike Peters, who have often played together since, performing their Coloursøund songs at every opportunity.

In 2019, Duffy sent Peters a guitar riff via email that immediately triggered a choral response. Within weeks, the pair had located to a beach cottage in a remote part of the North Wales coastline to write again. By the raging winter seashore, that first moment of creativity became Paradise [Free People] the opening song of COLOURSØUND II.

“Free people is who we are now,” says Billy. “We have a lot more understanding of how life works and the original Coloursøund phase taught us both so much about ourselves that we were able to return, survive and thrive in the bands that we made our reputations with. Ever since we first started working together, we have both retained and hung on to elements of that newly found artistic freedom we experienced through the Coloursøund project.

“By hiking together with Love Hope Strength, playing together in Dead Men Walking or producing records with other musicians. 2019 felt like the right time to do something together as Coloursound. What neither of us saw coming was the pandemic and how this music would help us both through the challenges of lockdown”.

COLOURSØUND II was recorded between lockdowns at the Chapel Studio in Lincolnshire, with bass player George Williams and Joe Strummer And The Mescaleros drummer Smiley making up the rhythm section.

It will be released on July 16. The album will be available digitally as well as on CD, plus a Studio Edition Limited Coloured Vinyl LP.

Duffy added: “I had this vision to create a really simple, direct rock record, a record that allowed both Mike and I to do what we do best and be heard for who we are. Almost like we were playing live without overdubs.

“I had a belief that a record recorded and delivered in this manner, would cut through and sound as contemporary as anything out there. We have gathered so much experience between us that I felt we could be totally honest in our musicianship and deliver a record that captured the essence of our relationship.”

Produced by bassist George Williams, COLOURSØUND II is dominated by Billy Duffy’s lighting strike guitar passages channeled through the pure expression and emotive vox of Peters.

“As soon as I opened Billy’s email and heard that first classic riff of his, I knew the calling of Coloursøund had to be answered,” said Peters. “No one plays guitar like Billy - he’s the master of his art and more - and to create music and sing with him is a privilege. This is not The Cult, nor is it The Alarm. This is Coloursøund - alive because it exists. Here and now because we have made it so, and this is the time to set it free.”

COLOURSØUND II formats are available to pre-order now via www.coloursound.uk. Coloursound’s eponymously-titled debut album will also be released for streaming and download for the first time on April 30.