From the official Peter Gabriel‘s newsletter:
Hi there moon-watchers,
As we reach mid-November and another new moon, the eleventh of the year, we arrive at the Bright-Side and In-Side mixes of “And Still,” a song written by Peter for his mother.
“It’s full of childhood memories, some of which are good, enjoyable and positive and some of which are obviously sad, dealing with loss.
It’s an elegy of sorts. I was trying to get some of the warmth because I think that’s where the music came from, from my mum. She was very compassionate with people and with animals, so that’s part of what I was trying to do.
My parents never moved from the house in which I was born and that’s a rare thing these days. The house has now been sold, but it was full of memories, so I was trying to capture some of that. Also, in the middle, I wanted to write her a beautiful melody. She loved classical music, so we have a beautiful cello playing there. It took a while to get that right, it can’t be too emotional or too underplayed, but I think we got there in the end.“
Purchase and Stream here: https://lnk.to/PG21
These mixes by Mark ‘Spike’ Stent (Bright-Side) and Hans-Martin Buff (In-Side) also come with accompanying artwork by Megan Rooney.
“Megan was the first person that was approached about this project and she showed me some of the abstract work that she’d been doing, which I thought was beautiful.“
Stream “And Still (Bright-Side Mix)” through the YouTube player below:
“When we were doing some demos, John Metcalfe used these ‘Sul Tasto’ breathy string samples and I fell in love with that. So there’s some of that at the beginning and the end and then some real players in the middle, with another nice arrangement from John. I hope you like it.“
“After a years-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.” – Peter Gabriel
Physical formats of i/o will be released 1 December, 2023.
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. “i/o” is musically adventurous, often joyous and ultimately full of hope, topped off as it is, by the rousingly optimistic closing song, “Live and Let Live,” which will be next month’s full moon release.
Pre-Order the album in various formats here: https://lnk.to/PG21
Tracklist:
CD | Digital *
Panopticom
The Court
Playing for Time
i/o
Four Kinds of Horses
Road to Joy
So Much
Olive Tree
Love Can Heal
This Is Home
And Still
Live And Let Live
*LP running order varies slightly (see website)