2009–2011: Formation and beginnings Originally named November and the Criminal, the band formed in August 2009 and released their self-titled debut EP in March 2010 before changing their name to Peace in October 2010. The band stated in 2013 they changed their name after having "written a whole different group of songs, which had a different feel" and dismissed their previous incarnation as November and The Criminal as being a "high-school band, when we were in college". During the band's last gig under their old name, they performed the first song written as Peace twice. Lead singer Harry Koisser stated that the band was founded out of boredom, while the name Peace was inspired by a photograph celebrating the end of the
Second World War. In January 2012, Peace released their first track, "Bblood", online. Peace were also well received by
The Guardian, who hailed them as "the future of indie". Peace proceeded to release their debut
extended play EP Delicious on 7 September. Well received by the
BBC and
NME, the four-track extended play featured "California Daze", a track made available as a free
download by the band in August of that year.
2012–2013: In Love On 9 December 2012, the
BBC announced that Peace had been nominated for the
Sound of 2013 poll. where it debuted at number seventy-five on the
UK Singles Chart for the week ending 26 January 2013. "Follow Baby" was reissued as the second single from their debut album on 17 February 2013, failing to chart in the United Kingdom.
In Love was released as the band's debut studio album on 25 March 2013 in the United Kingdom, debuting at number sixteen on the
UK Albums Chart with sales of 9,028 copies for the chart week dated 6 April 2013. In late November and December 2013, playing at notable venues such as two nights at
o2 Shepherd's Bush Empire,
o2 Academy Birmingham, and
Rock City (club) in Nottingham. During this November–December 2013 tour, Peace debuted future single 'Money'. The single received its first play on Hottest Record in the World on Radio 1 by Huw Stephens on 15 April 2014, with Peace announcing that it would be the first single from their upcoming second album and would be released 16 June 2014 and uploaded the music video for the song to their VEVO channel. The album date was scheduled for early February 2015. On 30 July 2014, Peace announced the next single taken from their second album would be called "Lost On Me" and would be released on 28 September. In August 2014, the band returned to the Reading and Leeds festivals, playing their largest shows to date. The band performed sixth on the bill for the main stage, playing before a number of popular artists including
The Hives,
Foster the People and the day's headliners
Arctic Monkeys. The second album,
Happy People, was released on 9 February 2015.
2017–2022: Kindness is the New Rock and Roll On 8 December 2017, the band issued their first release for new label
Ignition Records in the form of digital single "From Under Liquid Glass". The track was released in support of MQ Mental Health. Their third album,
Kindness Is the New Rock and Roll, was released on 4 May 2018. In 2022, their 2013 single "Lovesick" appeared in the first episode of the British TV series,
Heartstopper.
2023: New band line-up and Utopia On 3 April 2023, after a series of online teasers regarding their return in March 2023, Peace put their fourth album
Utopia up in its entirety exclusively on their password protected website and performed several UK gigs in May and June 2023. It was also revealed that the band are now a duo, as founding members Douglas Castle and Dominic Boyce are no longer serving for the band. ==Members==