July 3rd has a full moon, which means Peter Gabriel has shared “So Much,” a new song from his upcoming album, i/o. Listen to the track below.
Written and produced by Gabriel himself, “So Much” features a string arrangement from John Metcalfe, while Tony Levin plays bass, David Rhodes contributes guitar, and Gabriel’s daughter, Melanie, sings backing vocals. Gabriel calls the track a “simple song” about making the most of the life we’re given.
“I was trying purposefully not to be clever with this,” the artist explained. “I wanted to get a very simple chorus but one which still had some substance to the harmony and melody. Something that was easy to digest but still had a bit of character to it.”
Gabriel continued, “‘So Much’ is about mortality, getting old, all the bright, cheerful subjects, but I think when you get to my sort of age, you either run away from mortality or you jump into it and try and live life to the full and that always seems to make a lot more sense to me. The countries that seem most alive are those that have death as part of their culture.”
The rollout for i/o features Gabriel releasing a new song on each full moon, and each single comes with a specific piece of art. “So Much” is tied to Henry Hudson’s “Somewhere Over Mercia,” which depicts a yellow horizon line over a dark indigo sky. In a statement, Hudson compared the minimalist quality of his work to “So Much.”
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“There’s a universalness about the song,” the artist said. “I think the relationship between that song and my horizon lines are quite poignant — dealing with our understanding of what time is, dealing with voids or horizons or places that can appear to be closer or further away.”
The version of “So Much” released today is the “Dark Side Mix,” mixed by Tchad Blake. Later in the month, Gabriel will share Mark “Spike” Stent’s “Bright-Side Mix,” as well as Hans-Martin Buff’s “In-Side Mix.” The tracks follow his previous i/o singles, “Four Kinds of Horses,” “i/o (Bright-Side Mix),” “The Court,” and “Panopticom.”
Gabriel will tour North America this fall. Grab tickets to an upcoming show here.
“So Much (Dark-Side Mix)” Artwork:
