From Peter Gabriel official newsletter:
Hello there, everyone!
The 6 January first full moon of 2023 seems a long time ago, yet somehow, oddly, only yesterday all at the same time… but here we are, finally, at the twelfth full moon of the year and with it we reach the release of the final track from “i/o” called “Live and Let Live.”
Though technically this is the beaver moon, I like to think of it more as the bumper moon because, in a break from previous months, all three mixes are released simultaneously this time, the Bright-Side Mix by Mark ‘Spike’ Stent, the Dark-Side Mix by Tchad Blake and the Atmos In-Side Mix by Hans-Martin Buff.
Purchase and Stream “Live And Let Live” and Pre-Order “i/o” here: https://lnk.to/PG21
Written and produced by Peter Gabriel, Live and Let Live was the last song to be finished for the album. It’s a song about forgiveness, tolerance and optimism. A joyous, rousingly-positive closing note for the record.
“Music can be like a box of mood pills that we can use to treat ourselves and a lot of the work of the Reverberation project is focused on that sort of idea. When someone suggested that forgiveness might be a topic to write about, at first, I thought, ‘that’s not interesting to me,’ but then I remembered two things. Archbishop Desmond Tutu, who was the chair of The Elders and a real mentor for me, led the Truth and Reconciliation Committee in South Africa and that really allowed people to expose, report and maybe feel again some of the horrors of the apartheid era. I remember he always said that listening made a huge difference, just making sure people felt heard and recognized. Then, sometimes, it created a space for forgiveness.
There’s also a description that Nelson Mandela gave when he was released from jail after 27 years in prison and found himself about to become president of South Africa, standing next to some of the people who’d been responsible for keeping him in jail all that time. He said he felt some of the old fear and hatred swelling up inside him but when he thought hard about it, he realized that he needed to find a way to work with these people, to build what he called his rainbow coalition. He needed to feel their humanity and ultimately to find a way to forgive them. He was quite sure that if he couldn’t forgive them and find a way to work with them, that he would remain their prisoner for the rest of his days.
Now, I know if we look at what’s happening in the Middle East now or in Ukraine, all sorts of places around the world where there’s still violence and brutality, to walk around with a bunch of flowers, preaching forgiveness seems trite and pathetic, maybe. But in the long run, I think people have to find a way. ‘Peace only happens when you respect the rights of others’ is a quote from the Peace University in Costa Rica and I think that’s a really important message for me and for my life. You either belong to that hurt or you free yourself and forgiveness is clearly a super effective way of freeing yourself.“
“Live and Let Live” comes with the artwork “Soundsuit” by Nick Cave.
“Nick Cave does a lot performance, movement and dance work, but these extraordinary figures, for which he is best known, ‘Soundsuits’, are amazing. They are like armour. Beneath all this exuberant colour you can’t actually sense the race, the class, the wealth or the gender of the person wearing the Soundsuit, so, you have that sense that you are not going to get attacked for pre-conceived ideas about who you are or what people like you are like… it’s a very positive spin on a negative situation. Nick’s work is very interesting and unusual and I am very glad that he was happy to be part of this.”
So, all the tracks of the album are out in the world, and it is not long to go now until the physical release arrives, as it does this coming Friday, 1 December.
“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
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 and this full moon’s release, “Live and Let Live.”
Watch Peter Gabriel‘s Full Moon Update November 2023 through the YouTube player below:
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)
