Taken from the official Peter Gabriel Newsletter:
“Hi there!,
Welcome to our latest musing, delivered under the silvery shimmer of the full moon. It’s August and, as we are sure you know already, it’s a special month with two full moons to get our teeth into!“
First up we have the song “Olive Tree” and the Bright-Side Mix. “I don’t think there was any deep significance to the title,’ says Peter ‘but I can look around and try and invent some!“
Written and produced by Peter Gabriel, “Olive Tree” is another song about connection, both how we interact with nature and the other species around us, but also a greater sensitivity to the potential for broadening human experience, ‘in some ways I do think we are part of everything and we probably have means to connect and communicate with everything that we often shut off. We only want to see and listen to the things that seem important and relevant to us and shut out the noise of everything else when, probably, hidden in that noise there are all sorts of things that can help us realise our place in this future world.’
Stream the track “Olive Tree (Bright-Side Mix)” through the YouTube player below:
Purchase and Stream the track here: https://lnk.to/PG21
Purchase the track “Olive Tree (Bright-Side Mix)” on Bandcamp: https://petergabriel.bandcamp.com/track/olive-tree-bright-side-mix
Like the song “Road to Joy,” released in June, “Olive Tree” is also part of a separate brain-related project that Peter is currently working on, as well as being partly influenced by his interest in the brain reading research of the likes of Jack Gallant’s Lab at Berkeley and Mary Lou Jepsen’s work at Openwater.cc, “it feeds into this idea that we’re no longer these islands that have our own private thoughts, that our thoughts are going to get opened up to the outside world. The lubrication that allows society to function is based, in part, on not being able to read what’s going on in other people’s minds, so unless we get more comfortable with how we really are, we’re probably going to prefer to stay partly buried in our private worlds.“
Musically, “Olive Tree” provides another up-tempo moment for the “i/o” record, “I wanted it to have some speed to it but I also wanted some mystery, too. I think it is a celebration in a way and there’s a real sense of being alive.” The song features a string arrangement from John Metcalfe, with further contributions from Manu Katché on drums, Tony Levin on bass, David Rhodes on guitar, Josh Shpak on trumpet and additional percussion from Ged Lynch. The song was recorded at Real World Studios, Bath, The Beehive and British Grove, London.
Watch Peter Gabriel Full Moon August 2023 video through the YouTube player below:
“Olive Tree” comes with artwork from the artist Barthélémy Toguo and his work “Chroniques avec la Nature.”
“I was aware of Barthélémy Toguo’s work, which I found very haunting and very strong, but I first met him at WOMAD in 2015, when he came as artist in residence. I wasn’t talking about this project at that time, but when I was thinking about re-connecting to nature his work seemed ideal. I think it’s super strong and looks wonderful on stage.
Barthélémy listened to the song and his piece was created as a direct response to the music, which hasn’t always been the case with the other artists, but he was determined that he should generte something new and I’m very glad he did, it’s wonderful.“
“Sorry that the European tour programmes sold out so quickly the other week. We now have a few more available in the Real World Store, so you’ll hopefully still be able to pick one up there should you wish.“
Purchase tickets for “i/o” The Tour – North American Shows here: https://petergabriel.com/live/
Only about six weeks or so until the start of the North American tour, so we’re very much looking forward to that. Hope you are too.
In the mean time, enjoy the Bright-Side of Olive Tree and back before you know it with news on the Dark and In-Side mixes.” – Peter Gabriel