Brit-pop-championing indie quartet
Peace continue their upward trajectory, audaciously proclaiming kindness to be the new rock & roll on their confident third album. Following tours for their 2015 sophomore set,
Happy People, the baggy-influenced Birmingham rockers took a much-needed break from the public world, sequestering themselves for nearly two years in a National Trust farmhouse in rural Herefordshire to reflect and write new material. A transatlantic trip in 2017 to the similarly pastoral hamlet of Woodstock, New York to work with producer
Simone Felice (
Bat for Lashes,
the Lumineers), resulted in the pleasingly unfiltered and buoyant collection
Kindness Is the New Rock and Roll. Behind charismatic singer Harry Koisser,
Peace shoot from the heart and play to the back of the room on anthemic cuts like "Power," "You Don't Walk Away from Love," and the harmony-stacked title track. The album's pace slows down a bit in the second half, making it seem a bit front-loaded, but the swagger and tuneful songwriting that hooked fans in the first place remain in full effect here. ~ Timothy Monger