Peter Gabriel, whose 1982 single “I Have The Touch” just got a needle drop in Marty Supreme, has begun rolling out a new album. The 12-track o\i comes after 2023’s i/o, which was the art-rock legend’s first collection of new songs in over 21 years.
o\i follows the pattern of two-letter PG album titles beginning with 1986’s classic So. In a statement Gabriel makes it sound like somewhat of a companion to i/o, which reflected upon humanity’s connection to nature: “These are my lumpy bits – i/o: the inside has a new way out and o\i: the outside has a new way in.”
As with i/o, on every full moon Gabriel will share one album track with two mixes (Tchad Blake’s Dark-Side Mix and Mark ‘Spike’ Stent’s Bright-Side Mix) alongside a chosen piece of visual art. With the Wolf Moon happening tonight, the album’s first single “Been Undone” (in Dark-Side Mix form) has now been released. The art for it is São Paulo artist Janaina Mello Landini’s 2019 work Ciclotrama 156 (Palindrome). “The way she takes the rope and moves it out, unravelling it, is almost like fractals or tree trunks and looks like the brain in some ways too, so I see a lot of entry points,” notes Gabriel.
In an introductory video, Gabriel says the nearly eight-minute “Been Undone” was the most recent song he and his longtime bandmates (bassist Tony Levin, guitarist David Rhodes, and drummer Manu Katché) developed at his Real World Studios, but that it expands on a chord progression and some of Rhodes’ riffs from a thirty-year-old demo called “Sit.” It’s got a pleasant, loping groove and lyrics that reference mitochondria and the Mandelbrot set. Gabriel plays keys on this one and Richard Evans adds mandolin.
Check out the song, this month’s Full Moon update, and Gabriel’s statement about his new project below.
I’m delighted to say that tonight, at the full moon, we will be beginning another year of full moon releases under the name o\i.
The songs are a mix of thoughts and feelings. 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.
These are my lumpy bits –i/o: the inside has a new way out and o\i: the outside has a new way in.
We are not, and have never been, the exclusively self-determining, independent beings that have been given the run of the world. We are something else, a part of nature, a part of everything and feeling a connection, shaking our booty and giving and receiving some love can help us find our place – and put a big smile on our faces.
Some of these songs are going to form part of the brain project that I’ve been exploring for a number of years, and some just make me feel happy. I hope you like them.
o\i does not yet have a release date, but we should be hearing the Bright-Side Mix soon, followed by a new track on the second full moon of the year, Feb. 1.
Nadav Kander
