I/O - Peter Gabriel (2023)

The last album of original Gabriel material is older than one of my adult kids. I wrote a review for a similar hobby blog way back then, and probably had as many readers as I do here. He’s had plenty of presence since that, including his wildly original covers record, Scratch My Back.

But this is worth the wait. Gabriel is as insightful and confrontational as ever. He’s clearly been paying attention to what global music has been doing in the last 20 years, but the music is still unmistakably Peter Gabriel (which means unmistakably Tony Levin as well, which is fine by me). It all sounds fresh and well-constructed, presented in both “light” and “dark” mixes… I guess “dark” means more guitars? not sure what the logic is there, but they’re distinct enough to be worth listening to both versions.