Peace appeared on the British indie rock music scene around half a decade ago now, with a highly successful debut album, In Love. The palette of different influences was instantly recognised on the record, with Peace drawing their inspiration from bands such as Oasis, The Stone Roses, or The Beatles. Their sophomore record, 2015’s Happy People, was met with mixed reviews, sometimes being criticised for its vanilla indie-rock sound and lack of confidence, while elsewhere being prized for having memorable hooks and skilful blending of different genres. Either way, it led to Columbia dropping Peace and forcing them to recently established indie Ignition.

Similarly, to other modern rock bands, such as The Vaccines, or Circa Waves, the Birmingham based quartet builds their sound on the mixture of pop, alternative rock, while also adding a modern take on post-punk, often embellished with plenty of emotional and melodic lines. On their third record, titled Kindness Is The New Rock And Roll, Peace come back with a similar blend of sounds and even more catchy hooks and choruses.

Almost each of the songs on the album possesses an enticing quality, which makes Peace’s third album incredibly easy to unpack. The easiness with which the lead singer, Harry Koisser, plots the melodies on tracks such as ‘Silverlined’, ‘From Under Liquid Glass’, or ‘Just A Ride’, makes listening to the record really exciting and can definitely be quotes as one of the band’s biggest assets.

Koisser’s piercing vocals are perfectly suited for the dynamic instrumentation which Peace present and for the emotional revelations that sweep throughout the album. The frontman was keen to admit that he “started writing incredibly personal songs in very fearless way”, which resulted in Kindness Is The New Rock And Roll being an extremely honest record.

Darker and more direct messages are placed on the album, in comparison to Peace’s earlier releases, with songs such as ‘Magnificent’ and ‘Angel’ talking about some deeply personal problems. However, in other places, Peace are as anthemic as they were when we first met them. Opener ‘Power’ is the best example of the band showing off their dynamic side, while ‘You Don’t Walk Away From Love’ must be the most uplifting and cheerful song on the album.

Nevertheless, after listening to the album in its entirety, it’s definitely easier to get swayed by the more emotive tracks, which dominate the atmosphere on Kindness Is The New Rock And Roll. It doesn’t mean that the album has a strictly negative or gloomy atmosphere, but rather, that it’s transparent and honest. (7/10) (Alicja Rutkowska)

Listen to Kindness Is The New Rock And Roll by Peace here via Spotify, and tell us what you think below!