Peter Gabriel has revealed the full tracklist and more details about his first album of new material in more than 20 years, i/o, out December 1. The 12-track album comes more than decades since Gabriel’s ninth album Up, and each single has had a correlation with the lunar cycle.
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Leading up to the album release, Gabriel released a new track off the album on the full moon of each month, which began with the lead single “Panopticom” in January 2023. The singles will conclude with the closing track “Live And Let Live” in December.
“After a [year] worth of full moon releases, I’m very happy to see all these new songs back together on the good ship ‘i/o’ and ready for their journey out into the world,” said Gabriel in a statement.
The album is “12 tracks of grace, gravity, and great beauty that provide welcome confirmation of not only Peter’s ongoing ability to write stop-you-in-your-tracks songs but also of that thrilling voice, still perfectly, delightfully intact,” reads a descriptor of the album.
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Throughout i/o, Gabriel is transfixed on life and the universe and everything in between one’s connection to the world, along with themes of grief, mortality, injustices, terrorism, and more. The 12 tracks are also split into a Bright and Dark side with each remixed along both ends. The Bright-Side Mix was produced by Mark ‘Spike’ Stent, while the Dark-Side Mix was crafted by Tchad Blake.
“We have two of the greatest mixers in the world in Tchad and Spike and they definitely bring different characters to the songs,” said Gabriel on the two sonic ends represented of the album. “Tchad is very much a sculptor building a journey with sound and drama. Spike loves sound and assembling these pictures, so he’s more of a painter.”
Recorded mostly at Gabriel’s home studio Real World Studios in Bath, England, i/o features guitarist David Rhodes, bassist Tony Levin, drummer Manu Katché, pianist Tom Cawley, trumpeters Josh Shpak and Paolo Fresu, and cellist Linnea Olsson, among others. The album also features collaborations with Brian Eno and other contributions from British producer Richard Russell.
Other collaborators include Nick Cave, Ai Weiwei, Olafur Eliasson, Henry Hudson, Tim Shaw, David Spriggs, Barthélémy Toguo. Annette Messager, Antony Micallef, David Moreno, Cornelia Parker, and Megan Rooney.
Gabriel is wrapping up a world tour, which started in May 2023 in Europe and has continued on through North America during fall 2023.
i/o Tracklist:
1. “Panopticom”
2. “The Court”
3. “Playing for Time”
4. “i/o”
5. “Four Kinds of Horses”
6. “Road to Joy”
7. “So Much”
8. “Olive Tree”
9. “Love Can Heal”
10. “This Is Home”
11. “And Still”
12. “Live And Let Live”
Photo: Phillip Massey/WireImage
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