Peter Gabriel kicked off the year with the announcement of his new album o\i. However, this wasn’t a normal album cycle; the legendary singer-songwriter has been releasing a single for every full moon. Each track has two mixes — a Bright-Side mixed by Mark ‘Spike’ Stent and the Dark-Side mix by Tchad Blake — alongside a chosen piece of visual art. We’ve heard ten tracks so far: “Been Undone,” “Put The Bucket Down,” “What Lies Ahead,” “Till Your Mind Is Shining,” “Won’t Stand Down,” “A Hard Lesson,” “I Belong To The Sky,” “One By One,” “Looking For The Happy,” and “Face The Wall.” Now, he’s sharing more details about the record.
We finally have a release date for o\i, which is Nov. 27. “The songs are a mix of thoughts and feelings,” Gabriel says. “I have been thinking about the future and how we might respond to it. We are sliding into a period of transition like no other, most likely triggered in three waves; AI, quantum computing and the brain computer interface. Artists have a role to look into the mists and, when they catch sight of something, to hold up a mirror. We are not, and have never been, the exclusively self-determining, independent beings that we imagine we are. We have had a sense of entitlement that everything exists for our benefit — that we’ve been given the run of the world to exploit as we see fit.”
“We are something else, a part of nature, a part of everything and when we feel that connection, shake our booty and give and receive a little love, it can help us find our proper place — and put a big smile on our faces,” he continues. “This is how I see the lumpy bits — i/o: the inside has a new way out and o\i: the outside has a new way in.”
o\i was written and produced by Gabriel and recorded primarily at Real World Studios and Gabriel’s home studio. It features his band members — guitarist David Rhodes, bassist Tony Levin, and drummer Manu Katché — as well as other members of the i/o touring band such as Richard Evans, Josh Shpak, and Don E, plus Real World staffers Faye Dolle and Katie May. It also features the New Blood Orchestra, the Soweto Gospel Choir, and the Swedish all-male choir Oprhei Drängar. Other notable contributors include Brian Eno, Mike Elizondo (who co-produced A Hard Lesson), guitarists Leo Nocentelli and Tony Berg, drummer and percussionist Abe Rounds, pianist Tom Cawley, trumpeter Paolo Fresu, cellist Linnea Olsson, and multi-instrumentalist Evan Smith. Gabriel’s daughter Melanie also provides vocal support.
He also invited a variety of visual artists to contribute a piece of art to accompany the music: Janaina Mello Landini, Tomás Saraceno, Judy Chicago, Tatsuo Miyajima, Shirin Neshat, Juan Genovés, Roelof Louw, David Altmejd, Fracis Alÿs, Tadashi Kawamata, Berndnaut Smilde, Tishan Hsu, and Michal Rovner. The cover artwork is by photographer Nadav Kander. See the tracklist below.
TRACKLIST:
01 “Been Undone”
02 “Put The Bucket Down”
03 “What Lies Ahead”
04 “Till Your Mind Is Shining”
05 “Won’t Stand Down”
06 “Who Are We Talking To?”
07 “Yes, It Will Go”
08 “One By One”
09 “A Hard Lesson”
10 “Face The Wall”
11 “I Belong To The Sky”
12 “Looking for the Happy”
13 “Sacrament”
o\i is out 11/27 on his own Real World. Pre-order it here.
