Peter Gabriel releases cosmic epic 'I Belong to the Sky' on a full moon

Peter Gabriel has released yet another new single as part of his distinctive release strategy: he uses a lunar calendar to decide when to share music with the world. "I Belong to the Sky (Bright Side Mix)" came out last Tuesday, timed to coincide with the so called strawberry full moon. The accompanying "Dark Side Mix" of the same track will follow on the next new moon, on July 14.

It has turned out to be another substantial piece of music, which is starting to feel like a hallmark of the upcoming album o\i. The Bright Side Mix runs just over seven minutes and opens with a pronounced jazzy feel that quickly takes on a Caribbean rhythm. Around the fifty second mark, drums and brass instruments kick in, after which the whole thing takes on a mysterious, almost floating atmosphere. What makes this track stand out is the percussion, which sounds as if it were played on a timpani tom rather than a standard drum kit, giving everything a calm and hypnotic quality. Bubbling synthesizers weave through the mix, nodding back to Gabriel's entirely digital 1982 album Peter Gabriel, alternating with saxophone sounds, clear backing vocals, and brief quasi African throat sounds.

In a statement, Gabriel explains that the track has a long history and nearly ended up on his previous record i/o from 2023, but that he could not finish it at the time. The starting point was a specific rhythmic pattern on the timpani toms, inspired by the classic concert film Jazz on a Summer's Day and by drummer Chico Hamilton. According to Gabriel, Hamilton was a pioneer in using timpani mallets on the toms, a sound he had cherished for a long time, and the song grew organically around that pattern. Gabriel also speaks admiringly about Manu Katché's drumming on the track.

In terms of subject matter, "I Belong to the Sky" connects with the overarching theme of o\i, which revolves around the lightning fast advance of technology and the questions that come with it. Gabriel does not preach against progress or new scientific insights, but does ask pointed questions about what lies ahead for humanity. The lyrics include lines like "bringing the dream to life" and "the picture is falling," a phrase that may or may not intentionally reference Newton's law of gravity. The track feels more like a longing than a definitive statement.

The full album o\i, which will bring together all the released singles, is expected sometime in December. Every track on the record is a composition that had been waiting years or sometimes decades to be finished at Gabriel's Real World Studios in Bath. For fans of rich, layered music that rewards repeated listening, o\i is shaping up to be one of the most remarkable records of the year.