Hear Peter Gabriel’s new track, “Olive Tree”

Peter Gabriel has released a new song, “Olive Tree” from his forthcoming album, “i/o”.

Released to coincide with this month’s full moon, you can hear the Bright-Side Mix by Mark Stent below.

“Olive Tree” is the eighth track from the album, following “i/o”, “Playing For Fire”, “The Court” and “Panopticom” among others.

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Written and produced by Gabriel, “Olive Tree” is about connection, both how we interact with nature and the other species around us, but also a greater sensitivity to the potential for broadening human experience, “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,” says Gabriel. “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 realise our place in this future world.”

Musically, “Olive Tree” provides another up-tempo moment for the i/o record, “I wanted it to have some speed to it but I also wanted some mystery, too. I think it is a celebration in a way and there’s a real sense of being alive.” The song features a string arrangement from John Metcalfe, with further contributions from Manu Katché on drums, Tony Levin on bass, David Rhodes on guitar, Josh Shpak on trumpet and additional percussion from Ged Lynch. The song was recorded at Real World Studios, Bath, The Beehive and British Grove, London.

The release comes with artwork from the artist Barthélémy Toguo and his work, Chroniques avec la Nature.

“Olive Tree” will come with differing mix approaches from Mark Stent (Bright-Side Mix), released on August a, and also from Tchad Blake (Dark-Side Mix) and Hans-Martin Buff’s Atmos mix (In-Side Mix), released later in the month.