Peter Gabriel returns with “I/O”, a chiaroscuro album unveiled on stage and on the networks throughout the year

This time it is here, since Friday December 1st, the ninth studio album of original songs by Peter Gabriel, entitled I/O and rich in twelve pieces. I/Oit is the abbreviation of “input/output”, a story of connectivity, of connections, but also a reflection on time, death, forgiveness, crossed with some lighter thoughts.

This new opus, whose title was revealed many years ago, was so long awaited that some fans had stopped believing in it, until the announcements from Manu Katché, faithful drummer since 1986, then the official confirmation of November 2022. Everything came to fruition at the beginning of 2023 with the first shares of new music on social networks. And in the spring, a major European tour made three stops in France – Paris, Lille, Bordeaux – last May and June.

We must remember that the last album of unpublished songs by the Archangel dates back twenty-one years… Upan intimate and sepulchral record, was released in September 2002. In the meantime, there were other musical projects – but no album of new songs – and humanitarian and environmental commitments.

Between the legendary slowness of this meticulous creator and his advancing age, there were good reasons to believe that the 73-year-old singer had retired from the stage. Peter Gabriel’s career spans 55 years since the first 45 with the group Genesis of which he was the co-founder and first singer. It is a solo career at its peak between the second half of the 80s and part of the 90s.

On the lookout for technological innovations, he has never ceased to adorn his music with new sounds, climates and textures. In 1980, for example, he popularized the Fairlight CMI synthesizer, and several artists followed suit, from Kate Bush to Daniel Balavoine – he was a big fan of the English singer. Fascinated by the music and rhythms of other continents, particularly Africans, Peter Gabriel was one of the first rock stars to promote world music to which he dedicated a festival, Womad, then a studio and a label, Real World. We could therefore think that the septuagenarian singer had taken a step back. It is not so.

Twelve songs delivered every full moon

More productive than ever, the singer-songwriter of Solsbury Hill And Sledgehammer marked his return on different formats: audio, remixes, videos, and finally the stage. Starting in January 2023, once a month at the full moon, Gabriel unveiled a new song from this project co-produced by Brian Eno. Not only does the singer always have fun with what technology can offer, but he invites other creators to join the game: different mixes of his songs, signed by various artists, have been shared on his YouTube account over the years. months. The opportunity to listen to different variations of songs depending on your mood, via its “bright-side” or “dark-side” mixing…

It is in the same spirit that certain music by Peter Gabriel was put into images. In April 2023, the singer organized a competition inviting people to create clips for songs from I/O. From June, the videos of different winners (the winners of the 1st, 2nd and 3rd prizes) were shared on YouTube. Thus, a clip made on an extract from the “dark” mix of The Court features a Peter Gabriel with various facets, rejuvenated by artificial intelligence…

Beautiful return to the stage

The apotheosis was the European tour, the first in almost ten years. There was indeed a Rock Paper Scissors Tour involving Peter Gabriel and Sting during the summer of 2016, but it was limited to the North American continent. In France, the Archangel’s last visit dates back to the 2013-2014 season: the “Back to Front” tour then brought together the cast of So (1986), the record of all the successes, and replayed the program of the triumphant tour which followed in 1987. With a notable concert at Bercy – the French scene where Peter Gabriel performed the most – on October 15, 2013.

For the singer’s big return to the stage, almost ten years later, not all the admirers of the ex-leader of Genesis were able to afford a ticket (the prices ranged between approximately 78 and 200 euros – we is a far cry from the 140 francs for the ticket to Bercy in June 1987). Nevertheless, the show was exceptional with beautiful video features and strong moments to share with the audience.

And above all, a Peter Gabriel with an unchanging voice, simplicity and humor, surrounded by eight musicians including the pillars Tony Levin (bass), David Rhodes (guitar) and Manu Katché (drums). A singing tour mainly dedicated to the repertoire of the new album, largely unpublished at the time. A bold choice, when Gabriel could have been content to continue his old classics. After Europe in the spring, the English singer went on tour again at the start of the school year, this time on the American continent.

A meditative, serious album, with some touches of light

And here we are at the culmination of this prosperous year: the album I/O. It follows four untitled opuses between 1977 and 1982, and four others with the minimalist designation: So (1986), Us (1992), Ovo (2000), Up (2002). Of course, there were other records in between, but they were live recordings, cover collections ( Scratch my Back), reorchestrations (New Blood), collaborations (Big Blue Ball)…

What about the new repertoire, offered title by title on the networks in the narrative order of the album? The album opens with Panopticoma song evoking both the control of global data and the state of the planet, shared on January 6, 2023, and ends with Live and Let Live, a gentle and soothing ballad about forgiveness and tolerance, unveiled on November 26. In fact, the subject is generally dark in the first part of the record, and calms down and becomes clearer afterwards, like Olive Tree which evokes our connection with nature. We find Gabriel’s touch, with titles which sometimes echo some of their predecessors, like winks, self-quotations. The first notes and the spirit of the air Road to Joy remind Kiss that Frog (1992).

In the same way, the moving Love Can Heal remember Mercy Street (1986), one of the jewels of Sonot only in the spirit and arrangement of the song, but also in its commemorative purpose: Mercy Street was a tribute to the American poet Anne Sexton, Love Can Heal is dedicated to Labor MP Jo Cox who was murdered in 2016 by a far-right activist.

Different themes are evoked throughout the record, such as justice, the environment, the passing of time, death, age… The Peter Gabriel of maturity is never as touching as in the introspective songs or melancholy. This is the case of the overwhelming And Still which pays homage to his mother (23 years after the title dedicated to his father, Father, Son), or even So Much. As for the nuances distinguishing “bright” and “dark” mixes, they are not always obvious at first glance for certain titles. I/O you will have to let yourself be tamed as you listen, to savor its subtleties and richness.