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Jun 02, 2026 By Mark Redfern Photography by Nadav Kander

Peter Gabriel is releasing a new album, o/i, later this year via Real World (the exact release date is TBA). Now he has shared its fifth single, “A Hard Lesson.” Similar to his 2023 album, i/o, each single from the album will be released on days with full moons and there will be “Bright-Side” and “Dark-Side” mixes for each song on the album. This is the “Bright-Side Mix” of “A Hard Lesson.” Listen below, followed by a behind-the-scenes video about the song.

Gabriel had this to say about the song in a press release: “This is the oldest track of the project. It probably started in the late ’80s or early ’90s when I was in Senegal. I was falling in love with the music I heard there. I loved the tension created by the use of polyrhythms, particularly the threes and fours, so that was the start of this song.

“It’s a quirky, strange, and long track but it’s a journey. It’s about trying to find a place, your place, how you fit in. I’ve enjoyed playing with old R&B and folk references as well.

“It’s one of those songs that has been in the ‘almost’ category on a couple of earlier projects but it’s had to wait 30 or 40 years before actually hitting the surface. Sometimes things take time —most people do stuff a lot faster—but I have no problem with understanding my own process. Some things will mature and evolve spontaneously and some will just stay hidden-away in a box until their moment in the light appears.

“This has had such a long history and I think the number of people who’ve contributed to this at one time or another probably outnumbers all the contributors for the rest of the album. I’ve enjoyed so many of the things that people have thrown at it over the years that it’s been ‘assembled’ if you like, a bit like a jigsaw.

“Tony Berg, who was my A&R in the ’90s, added some guitar on it and David Rhodes has added a lot of things on this over the years. Richard Evans also had a go doing a more industrial version and there are little elements of that that remain too. I tried a harpsichord sample on the synth which created the folky character of the chorus and then asked Richard to augment that with some organic, natural instruments, like mandolin, which I think gives it a much better flavour on the middle section and the choruses. Mike Elizondo co-produced this version and had a big input on this track—he also added his fat bass, and Abe Rounds, with whom he collaborates, added some lovely fluid rhythms.”

As with i/o, for each single from the album, Gabriel will be working with a different artist to do the cover artwork. The artwork for “A Hard Lesson” consists of film stills from Cuentos Patrióticos, a film by the Belgian born, Mexico City based, artist Francis Alÿs. It was made with Rafael Ortega and, as a press release put it, the film “references an event in 1968 where civil servants were ordered to congregate in the centre of Mexico City, in response to a student demonstration against the government. Instead of showing support for the government they responded by making sheep noises in protest.”

Gabriel further explains: “I saw this image of the pole, the man, and the sheep and it leapt out at me. There was no rational argument as to why I was drawn to it but it did seem to be talking about place, so I felt it really worked for the song.

“In the film Francis Alÿs is seen walking in that same square in Mexico City, followed by one sheep and then other sheep come and join in and they continue around in a circle. It’s quirky and strange and I love it. I think it is a very cool art film, I hope you check out more of his work.”

Watch Cuentos Patrióticos below.

The new album was recorded at Real World Studios, Bath and The Beehive in London. Tchad Blake and Mark ‘Spike’ Stent will be mixing all the songs, taking on the Dark-Side and Bright-Side respectively.

Previously Gabriel shared the album’s first single, “Been Undone,” the “Dark-Side” mix of the song. Then he shared its second single, “Put the Bucket Down,” which was one of our Songs of the Week. Then he shared its third single, “What Lies Ahead.” Then he shared its fourth single, “Till Your Mind is Shining,” which was also one of our Songs of the Week.

I/o was his first album of original songs in over 20 years. Prior to i/o, Gabriel’s last full-length album of original materials was 2002’s Up, although in 2010 he released the Scratch My Back covers album and in 2011 he released New Blood, which featured orchestral re-recordings of songs from across Gabriel’s career.

Also read our previous interview between Gabriel and Arcade Fire’s Richard Reed Parry.

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