Peter Gabriel: I/O (Dark-Side Mix)

Throughout 2023, Peter released a new song from the album for every full moon. “It’s a bit like getting a Lego brick every month,” Peter explains. Now you get to admire the finished work

And what a work it is – the album’s intelligent and thoughtful songs deal with life and the universe. Our interconnectedness with the world around us – “I’m just a part of everything” Peter sings in the title track “I/O” – is a recurring motif, but so is the passage of time, mortality and grief, alongside themes of injustice, surveillance and the roots of terrorism. But though reflective, the mood on this record is never despondent; “I/O” is musically adventurous, often joyful and ultimately full of hope, crowned by the rousingly optimistic closing song “Live and Let Live.”

All 12 tracks can be heard in two stereo mixes: the bright-side mix, engineered by Mark “Spike” Stent, and the dark-side mix, reshaped by Tchad Blake. Both versions are included on the double CD and are also available separately as double vinyl albums. A third version – the In-Side Mix in Dolby Atmos – was created by Hans-Martin Buff and is included in the three-disc set including Blu-ray.