Peter Gabriel – i/o
Peter Gabriel doesn’t do things fast. A decade (or more) can pass between albums. But his fans are legion, and the resulting material is often (if not always) strong enough to justify the wait. But this might just be the best thing he’s done since So. Some of the songs have been evolved over years and decades, some of them originating from the songwriting sessions for 2002’s Up, and some of them older than that, and these are supposedly the strongest contenders to emerge from a pool of over a hundred songs, the rest of which may emerge as post-album singles, or may be thrown back in the water to grow larger and show up on a future album.
While the songs may have evolved from compositions Gabriel has been working on for years, the lyrics feel immediate, very much revealing what’s on Gabriel’s mind as he edges toward elder statesman territory. Songs such as “So Much” and “Playing For Time” address the brevity of life, an increasing awareness of mortality, and both of those things informing what one places the most value on, which is itself a theme that shows up in “Olive Tree” and “This Is Home”. Gabriel’s more global concerns are still here as well, showing up in “Panopticom” and “The Court”, to name just a couple. Whether you’re hear to hear Gabriel’s thoughts on a world in disarray or something more intimate, there’s something for you on i/o.
Interestingly, the entire tracklist is repeated over two discs – the “Bright Side” mixes by Mark “Spike” Stent, which feel a big glossier and more processed, take up one disc, and the other disc is comprised of the “Dark Side” mixes by Tchad Blake, which have bit of punchier, raw immediacy. There’s not much difference in the actual production, but different elements are brought to the forefront in the different mixes. The “Dark Side” mixes feel a bit more like old-school Gabriel, with the rhythm section very much foregrounded, while the “Bright Side” mixes foreground elements like the string sections and synths. Each single was rolled out in both forms, but I didn’t expect the album to include both versions of each song.
As always, Gabriel’s fan base will debate and analyze his work endlessly, but overall, I found i/o to be an enlightening and uplifting listen, awash in the usual layers of detailed production, a hint of funk, and a taste of world music here and there. Not a single song seems out of place – the album is blissfully free of any “Barry Williams Show” missteps – and all of them are thought-provoking. It adds up to his best work in a very long time.
… Read moreDisc 1: Bright-Side Mixes
- Panopticom (Bright Side Mix) (5:16)
- The Court (Bright-Side Mix) (4:21)
- Playing For Time (Bright-Side Mix) (6:18)
- i/o (Bright-Side Mix) (3:53)
- Four Kinds of Horses (Bright-Side Mix) (6:47)
- Road to Joy (Bright-Side Mix) (5:22)
- So Much (Bright-Side Mix) (4:52)
- Olive Tree (Bright-Side Mix) (6:01)
- Love Can Heal (Bright-Side Mix) (6:02)
- This Is Home (Bright-Side Mix) (5:04)
- And Still (Bright-Side Mix) (7:44)
- Live and Let Live (Bright-Side Mix) (6:47)
Disc 2: Dark-Side Mixes
- Panopticom (Dark-Side Mix) (5:16)
- The Court (Dark-Side Mix) (4:20)
- Playing For Time (Dark-Side Mix) (6:18)
- i/o (Dark-Side Mix) (3:53)
- Four Kinds of Horses (Dark-Side Mix) (6:47)
- Road to Joy (Dark-Side Mix) (5:25)
- So Much (Dark-Side Mix) (4:51)
- Olive Tree (Dark-Side Mix) (6:01)
- Love Can Heal (Dark-Side Mix) (6:03)
- This Is Home (Dark-Side Mix) (5:04)
- And Still (Dark-Side Mix) (7:44)
- Live and Let Live (Dark-Side Mix) (7:11)
Released by: RealWorld
Release date: December 1, 2023
Disc one total running time: 1:08:26
Disc two total running time: 1:08:52
Picking up conceptually where the too-tame orchrstral cover album Scratch My Back left off, Peter Gabriel’s follow-up is another orchestral cover album, this time drawing from Gabriel’s own back catalog. I was so unimpressed with Scratch My Back that I elected not to review it here (in a nutshell: Gabriel’s cover of Paul Simon’s “Boy In Then Bubble” was the only track I bother to revisit since the first listen), so the thought of Gabriel giving his own material the same treatment didn’t excite me: would he pick the right songs? Would he saddle them with uninspired, Scratch My Back-style arrangements?
I hope Peter Gabriel resumes his more traditional style of music for whatever he releases next. The songs selected for New Blood were enthralling in their original versions because they were so unconventional. New Blood squandered the opportunity to expand on those songs by make them not just convention, but watered-down shadows of their former selves.