May 5th marks another full moon, thus Peter Gabriel has shared another new single. This time, it’s “Four Kinds of Horses,” a cut from his upcoming album i/o. Named after the eponymous Buddhist parable, the track features Brian Eno on synthesizer as well as Gabriel’s daughter Melanie on backing vocals.
The mellow and moody “Four Kinds of Horses” explores “the interesting overlap of religion and peace on the one hand and violence and terrorism on the other.” In a press release, Gabriel explains how the song came together with co-producer Richard Russell, founder of XL Records.
“I came up with some chords, melodies and words on top of a groove he was working on,” Gabriel says. “We tried a few things that didn’t altogether work and so it lay dormant for quite a while. Then I started playing around with it again and changed the mood and the groove and something else began to emerge with a better chorus.”
“Four Kinds of Horses” sounds pretty much exactly what you’d expect from a Gabriel and Eno team-up, complete with plenty of layered vocals and a whole lot of synth lines; it’s quite nice. Listen to the song below.
Gabriel hasn’t confirmed an official release date for i/o — which will mark his first album in two decades — but he did share its title track back in April, and we’ve also heard the singles “Panopticom” and “The Court.”
The musician also has a bunch of tour dates around the globe throughout 2023. Tickets for his North American shows are available to purchase here.
