by Jacob Rueda
After years of delays and distractions, Peter Gabriel delivers his follow-up to 2002’s Up- the similarly titled I/O.
As usual, Gabriel takes meticulous care in crafting songs with emphasis, meaning, and no small amount of gravitas. There are moments that recall the darkness of Up and the pop-friendly sounds of So. However, at least in this reviewer’s perspective, the moments that shine are when he leans more toward darker pieces like “The Court” and the apocalyptic “Four Kinds of Horses.”
With I/O, Gabriel made the decision to release a song from the album every full moon until it was fully released. While an interesting idea, the excitement of hearing the songs for the first time when the album came out was gone. It is his music and he can release it however he wants but it was anticlimactic to release all the songs until there was no more guessing as to what the album would sound like once it was released.
Each release came with its own artwork by artists selected by Gabriel. Some artwork is more striking than others, though Gabriel praises all of them. Olafur Eliasson's image for the single "I/O," a piece titled Colour experiment no. 114, is perhaps the best cover out of all of them. Sculptor Tim Shaw's installation Lifting the Curse is an equally powerful image that was used for "The Court." However, Ai Weiwei's Middle Finger in Pink is a forced statement on his part and a poor representation for the single "Road to Joy."
Colour experiment no. 114 by Olafur Eliasson for the single "I/O."
Regardless, fans should find a little bit of everything here, as was previously mentioned. However, do not expect him to have made the same music he did during his Fairlight-heavy days. Each of Gabriel’s albums brings something different every time, both sonically and lyrically. For anyone critical of his music, this can be either a blessing or a curse.
Given that, there is an expectation for Gabriel to deliver something in terms of what could be considered his signature sound. Mind you, there’s no “Sledgehammer” here, but don't expect to find remakes of “Intruder” or “Rhythm of the Heat” either. Instead the album delivers a modern take on experimentation that is removed from the early days of sampling à la his fourth album Security.
“The Court” is perhaps the strongest piece in I/O, whose genesis (no pun intended) began with Gabriel experimenting with Cuban rhythms which he then expanded on. This is clearly a percussion-driven piece, thanks in part to his long-time drummer Manu Katche. Thematically, it’s a murky piece discussing the consequences of a world connected, if not trapped, by cell phones, data, and surveillance.
On the opposite side of “The Court” is the breezy “Olive Tree.” In this piece, he follows a thematic trend evident in songs as early as “I Go Swimming” but as recent as “Red Rain” where the subject of the song revels in being immersed in water. Similar in sound is the title track “I/O.” Though “Olive Tree” is lyrically stronger than “I/O,” both songs deliver the same message, which is delight in self-awareness and interconnectedness.
Both “Olive Tree” and “I/O” are pieces that don’t deliver the same punch as “The Court.” Their whimsical nature is such that any musician could have written either of those two pieces. Gabriel’s allure comes from creating complex songs like “The Family and the Fishing Net” from his fourth album, and even “Moribund the Burgermeister” from his first album, playful as the latter is. In the end, “Olive Tree” and “I/O” are alright, but they’re not great.
Pivoting to the end of the spectrum again is “Playing for Time,” a solemn piece about the inevitable end of life and the importance of cherishing each moment while living life to its fullest. The equally solemn “So Much” also looks at examining one’s choices in life, what was gained and what was lost. Despite their solemnity, both songs have the unfortunate distinction of being stylistically similar to the music of Randy Newman, a performer who, despite critical acclaim, is mediocre at best and whose voice leaves much to be desired.
Furthermore, I/O comes in three versions, the Mark Stent-mixed “Bright Side” mixes and Tchad Blake’s “Dark Side” mixes. There are also the Dolby Atmos “In-side” mixes by Hans-Martin Buff. Each song has subtle differences in their respective mix with some aspects of the song standing out in a particular mix. It’s a lot of choice for any listener, though it is not clear how necessary having three distinct mixes of a song is.
Likewise, the artificial intelligence-created videos for some of the songs on I/O (and a few older pieces) are poorly made and unsettling to watch. A.I. art in general is just bad to look at. However, it was Gabriel's decision to have A.I. artists create videos for his music for better or worse, though worse seems to be the ultimate conclusion in this case.
Overall, the album is a split of really strong songs and mediocre pieces. After almost 60 years in the music business, one cannot expect him to do the same things he’s always done, or follow the same antics as before. In other words, one cannot expect him to don the Slipperman costume in concerts or break out into singing “The Return of the Giant Hogweed” one last time. This is a totally new version of Peter Gabriel, one that is refined and retrospective in a sense- perhaps not musically but in other ways that are more significant.