The Cult's Billy Duffy and The Alarm's Mike Peters have announced the upcoming release of the second Coloursøund album. The pair originally started working together in 1997, releasing their self-titled debut album two years later, and while the album was re-released last year, there's been no new music from Coloursøund in over two decades.
Now putting that right, they've also released the first single from the upcoming Coloursøund II album. Paradise (Free People) is powered by a ringing riff with Duffy's signature sound all over it, while Peters delivers a vocal that's a typically fiery call to arms. Watch the video below.
‘Free people is who we are now,” says Duffy. “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."
The pair had also previously worked together on (Love Hope) Strength, a single from the Love Hope Strength Acoustic Band released in 2007 with The Beat's Dave Wakeling and the Stray Cats' Slim Jim Phantom, and in the supergroup Dead Men Walking.
"You could say that our songwriting partnership was born outside of wedlock”, says Peters. “When we first started working together in the late 1990’s 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 affected as I had, by the turbulence of the rock'n'roll existence."
The spur for the second album came when Duffy sent Peters a guitar riff, and within weeks the pair had located to a beach cottage in North Wales coastline to write. The album was completed between lockdowns at the Chapel Studio in Lincolnshire, produced by George Williams – who also played bass – along with Joe Strummer and The Mescaleros drummer Smiley.
"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." says 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.”
"! had this vision to create a really simple, direct rock record” explains Duffy. “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."
Coloursøund II will be released on July 16 2021, and can be pre-ordered from the Alarm Store now. The album is available on CD and black vinyl, as well as on two limited edition coloured vinyl "acetate-cut" variants signed by Duffy and Peters. The band's debut album Coloursøund will be available for the first time on streaming services from April 30.
Coloursøund II tracklist
Paradise [Free People]
Lightning Strike
Revelation
Addiction
Why?
The Wild
Actions
The Other Side
Start A Fire
Eye For An Eye
Mourning Call
The Candle
