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Aug 01, 2023 By Kat Ramkumar Photography by Nadav Kander

Peter Gabriel has released a new song titled “Olive Tree,” which is the eighth and latest single from his forthcoming album i/o. The first version released of the song is the Bright-Side Mic, by Mark “Spike” Stent. The album doesn’t have an exact release date yet. Check out “Olive Tree” below followed by Gabriel’s upcoming tour dates.

“Olive Tree” was written and produced by Peter Gabriel. Of the song, he says in a press release: “In some ways I do think we are part of everything and we probably have means to connect and communicate with everything that we often shut off. We only want to see and listen to the things that seem important and relevant to us and shut out the noise of everything else when, probably, hidden in that noise there are all sorts of things that can help us realize our place in this future world.”

“Olive Tree” is a part of separate brain-related project that Gabriel is working on, as well as being influenced by his interest in brain reading research of Jack Gallant’s Lab at Berkeley and Mary Lou Jepsen’s work at Openwater.cc. Gabriel adds: “it feeds into this idea that we’re no longer these islands that have our own private thoughts, that our thoughts are going to get opened up to the outside world. The lubrication that allows society to function is based, in part, on not being able to read what’s going on in other people’s minds, so unless we get more comfortable with how we really are, we’re probably going to prefer to stay partly buried in our private worlds.”

This track features a string arrangement from John Metcalfe, Manu Katché on drums, Tony Levin on bass, David Rhodes on guitar, Josh Shpak on trumpet, and additional percussion from Ged Lynch. The cover artwork comes from artist Barthélémy Toguo and his work “Chroniques avec la Nature.”

Gabriel adds: “I was aware of Barthélémy Toguo’s work, which I found very haunting and very strong, but I first met him at WOMAD in 2015, when he came as artist in residence. I wasn’t talking about this project at that time, but when I was thinking about reconnecting to nature and his work seemed ideal. I think it’s super strong and looks wonderful on stage. “

“Barthélémy listened to the song and his piece was created as a direct response to the music, which hasn’t always been the case with the other artists, but he was determined that he should generate something new and I’m very glad he did, it’s wonderful.”

Previously Gabriel shared the album’s first single, “Panopticom,” which featured Brian Eno and was one of our Songs of the Week. That was followed by its second single, “The Court.”Then the album’s third single was “Playing For Time.”The fourth single was the album’s title track, “i/o.” The album’s fifth single was “Four Kinds of Horses,” which also made our Songs of the Week list. “Road to Joy” was the album’s sixth single and it also made our Songs of the Week list. This was followed by the album’s seventh single, “So Much.”

Peter Gabriel Tour Dates:

Friday, 8 September Quebec City, QC Videotron Centre
Saturday, 9 September Ottawa, ON Canadian Tire Centre
Monday, 11 September Toronto, ON Scotiabank Arena
Wednesday, 13 September Montreal, QC Bell Centre
Thursday, 14 September Boston, MA TD Garden
Saturday, 16 September Philadelphia, PA Wells Fargo Center
Monday, 18 September New York, NY Madison Square Garden
Wednesday, 20 September Washington, DC Capital One Arena
Friday, 22 September Buffalo, NY Keybank Center
Saturday, 23 September Pittsburgh, PA PPG Paints Arena
Monday, 25 September Columbus, OH Nationwide Arena
Wednesday, 27 September Cleveland, OH Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse
Friday, 29 September Detroit, MI Little Caesars Arena
Saturday, 30 September Chicago, IL United Center
Monday, 2 October Milwaukee, WI Fiserv Forum
Tuesday, 3 October St Paul, MN Xcel Energy Center
Saturday, 7 October Vancouver, BC Rogers Arena
Sunday, 8 October Seattle, WA Climate Pledge Arena
Wednesday, 11 October San Francisco, CA Chase Center
Friday, 13 October Los Angeles, CA Kia Forum
Saturday 14 October Palm Springs, CA Acrisure Arena
Monday, 16 October Denver, CO Ball Arena
Wednesday, 18 October Austin, TX Moody Center
Thursday, 19 October Dallas, TX American Airlines Center
Saturday, 21 October Houston, TX Toyota Center

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