A month after the release of “Been Undone”, initially released in the Dark-Side version, Peter Gabriel continues the publication of the songs that will be included in the next album “o/i”, expected in complete form by the end of the year. The new single is titled “Put The Bucket Down” and is featured in the Bright-Side Mix, confirming the double perspective structure that characterizes the entire project.
As with the previous extract, this track is also accompanied by a visual work. In this case it is “Cosmic Spider/Web” by Argentine artist Tomás Saraceno, an image that depicts three species of spiders — Cyrtophora citricola, Nephila senegalensis and Holocnemus pluchei — and which also serves as the album's official cover.
Gabriel places the piece within a broader path, linked to a parallel show he has been working on for some time: a narrative project focused on the brain as a conceptual fulcrum. “Put The Bucket Down” represents a passage in which the boundary between autonomous thought and external influence becomes uncertain, questioning the very origin of ideas and consciousness. On a musical level, the piece was born around what the artist defines as an “unbalanced loop”, an irregular rhythmic structure that found full expression in his work with the band. During the orchestral sessions, Gabriel involved John Metcalfe for an essential and minimal part, while the wind instruments take on a central role thanks also to the contributions of Paolo Fresu in the studio and Josh Shpak in the live performances.
The English musician's new recording project arrives as a direct sequel to “i/o” (2023) and takes up its conceptual approach: this time too, in fact, Gabriel will release a song every full moon, until the release of the complete album expected by the end of the year.
Presenting the album, Gabriel said: “I'm happy to say that tonight, with the full moon, we start a new year of monthly releases under the name 'o/i'. The songs are a collection of thoughts and feelings. I'm thinking a lot about the future and how we might react: we are entering an unprecedented transition phase, probably triggered by three main waves, artificial intelligence, quantum computing and the brain-computer interface. Artists have the task of looking into the fog and, when they glimpse something, to hold a mirror. We are not and have never been totally self-determined, independent beings who have been given free reign over the world. We are something else, we are part of nature, a part of everything, and feeling some connection, moving our butts and giving and receiving a little love can help us find our place, and put a big smile on our faces,” Gabriel added.
The English composer then summarized the relationship between the two albums as a sort of complementary diptych: “i/o” represents “the inside that finds a new way out”, while “o/i” is “the outside that discovers a new way in”. A reflection that broadens to a less individualistic vision of the human being, understood as an integral part of nature and of a broader whole, in which emotional and physical connection becomes a tool for finding one's place.
Some of the new songs, he added, will flow into the “brain project” that Gabriel has been carrying out for years, while others are born simply from the desire to convey joy. “I hope you like them,” he concluded.
In a different context, Gabriel also recently thanked director Josh Safdie for including his song “I Have The Touch” in the film “Marty Supreme”, starring Timothée Chalamet.
Antonio Santini for SANREMO.FM
