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October 3, 2026
Christian
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Peter Gabriel – o\i – album info and background

On 27 November 2026, 'o\i' – the follow-up to 'i/o' – is set to be released, just three years on. We have all the details.

Just three years after i/o, the new album o\i is indeed due to be released on 27 November. Yet when i/o came out back then, there was absolutely no indication that the 'surplus' (as Gabriel called the remaining songs that didn't make it onto i/o at the time) could become another album. In fact, there wasn't enough material for that. And so there were further recording sessions. That is why the press release is quite right when it says: Gabriel is currently experiencing a creative peak in his later career…

Looking back

2023: Following the end of the i/o Tour and the release of the album i/o in December 2023, it was clear that there might be a few songs that could be considered for another album. Ultimately, however, it could just as easily have been the case that Gabriel would simply present a handful of songs to his Bandcamp subscribers. He hinted at this too. In the end, though, nothing happened – at least not straight away.

What Lies Ahead remained from the i/o sessions (and had, in fact, even been played live), and Put The Bucket Down was presumably also on the list for i/o (the song appeared in copyright databases early in 2023). Furthermore, the songs The Veil and Show Yourself kept cropping up in fan discussions because Peter had once mentioned them in the UNCUT article as candidates for a new album. In addition, there were two songs – Radio Everyone and Rock Paper Scissors – which apparently featured, at the very least, on the rehearsal setlist for the 2016 tour with Sting. Older tracks that had formed part of the UP / IO sessions 25 years ago were presumably no longer under consideration. These included songs that had already been released elsewhere (I'm Amazing or Nocturnal) and others, such as Baby Man or Wild, which had not been used previously.

Whilst not much happened in 2024, there was significantly more activity in the Gabriel camp in 2025. In January, recording sessions took place once again at Real World Studios. Manu Katché, David Rhodes and Tony Levin were all there – so it was a classic band session. Rhodes said that they had recorded six or seven new songs. By this point at the latest, it was clear that Gabriel was working on another album. He confirmed this himself shortly afterwards and also revealed the album's title: o\i.

This was followed in June by a hint that new music was due to be released in 2026, and Gabriel reaffirmed this plan in October as part of the promotional campaign for the The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway box set. Another recording session took place that same month. Finally, in early January 2026, Peter Gabriel did indeed kick off the release schedule with the song Been Undone – and once again, a new song was to be released every full moon. Peter initially spoke of 12 songs in January, but in the full moon video released in September, he then announced an album comprising 13 songs.

o\i release details

The album is due to be released on 27 November. Here's an overview of the tracks and formats:

The album formats

The album will, of course, be released digitally, and there will also be a Dolby Atmos version, once again produced by Grammy Award winner Hans-Martin Buff. However, there are no plans for a Blu-ray release at present.

The album is also available as a 4-CD set in a CD-sized hardback book with a 32-page booklet. As the 13 tracks have a combined running time of 82 minutes, this is a classic double album. Interestingly, the album is split after 8 tracks on CD, but after 7 on vinyl. On vinyl, as with i/o, the album is released as two double LPs: one 2LP set for the Bright-Side Mix and one for the Dark-Side Mix. These 2LP sets come in a gatefold sleeve, along with an obi strip and a high-resolution download code.

Some information about the songs

Peter Gabriel o\i cover artwork by Nadav Kander

What Lies Ahead is the only track that originated from the i/o sessions and was not subsequently reworked. Put The Bucket Down, Till Your Mind Is Shining, Face The Wall and I Belong To The Sky definitely stem from the i/o sessions, but were further developed as part of the o\i production. A Hard Lesson stems from an idea from the US sessions and was only finalised during the o\i sessions. Songs that are more or less new from the 2025 sessions are Been Undone, Won't Stand Down, One By One and Looking For The Happy. Of these, Won't Stand Down is apparently the only song that does not stem from an idea dating back to the period before the album sessions. We will provide our assessment of the remaining songs as soon as we have heard them.

Once again, the tracks are available in the Bright-Side Mix (by Mark 'Spike' Stent) and the Dark-Side Mix (by Tchad Blake). But this time there's something a bit different. That's because Who Are We Talking To? wasn't mixed by Tchad Blake for the Dark-Side Mix, but by Mike Elizondo. The reasons for this remain unclear. Mike also co-produced A Hard Lesson and contributed as a session musician on other tracks.

The album artwork and the packaging

The cover image is once again the work of photographer Nadav Kander, who has once more used projections. Kander has taken many photographs of Peter Gabriel in recent years and was also responsible for the cover image of i/o. This time, we see Peter holding a smartphone, as well as a second view of his head, which has this time been projected onto a piece of gauze. Once again, the theme of 'eyes' is prominent.

The other elements of the artwork are reminiscent of i/o. The same typeface and design have been used for the track listing, and the booklet follows a similar layout. It once again features all the artwork, and we also find the introductory texts for the songs there. Externally, colours are once again used to distinguish between the Bright Side (green) and Dark Side mixes (purple) in the vinyl edition (primarily via the 'obi-strip', but the inner sleeves for the actual records are also different). The 4CD set contains both mixes and is coloured orange.

Whilst i/o was released as a 2CD and a 2CD/Blu-ray set in a fold-out digipak without a tray, o\i comes as a hardback book in CD format, with the 32-page booklet integrated into it. There is (at least for the time being) no physical release of Hans-Martin Buff's In-Side Mix (Dolby ATMOS). Nor is a deluxe box set due to be released this time round.

The works of art

As with i/o, there is an accompanying piece of artwork for each song, which Peter unveiled as part of his Full Moon videos. With the album announcement, all the artists have now been revealed. However, the artwork for the remaining three songs is still missing. You can find a separate article on the accompanying o\i artwork here.

Been Undone | Janaina Mello Landini – Ciclotrama 156 (palindrome)
Put The Bucket Down | Tomás Saraceno – Cosmic Spider/Web
What Lies Ahead | Judy Chicago – Birth Tear/Tear
Till Your Mind Is Shining | Tatsuo Miyajima – Warp Time with Warp Self No. 2
Won't Stand Down | Shirin Neshat – Faith
Who Are We Talking To? | Juan Genovés (Kunstwerk noch unbekannt)
Yes, It Will Go | Roelof Louw (Kunstwerk noch unbekannt)
One By One | David Altmejd – Pieces
A Hard Lesson | Fracis Alÿs – Cuentos Patrióticos
Face The Wall | Tadashi Kawamata – The Nest
I Belong To The Sky | Berndnaut Smilde – Nimbus de Toekomst 1
Looking For The Happy | Tishan Hsu – Closed Circuit II
Sacrament | Michal Rovner (Kunstwerk noch unbekannt)

Pre-order

o\i is now available for preorder. Please note that there are several color vinyl variants, some of them are exclusively for indie shops, other are sold exclusively by HMV in the UK or JPC in Germany etc. The links below are not

The album will also be available digitally on all streaming services from 27 November. The Dolby ATMOS mix will also be available upon release via streaming services that support 3D audio (Apple Music, Amazon Music and others).

The music

We'll add a review of the finished album here as soon as it's available in its entirety. Until then, you can read our individual track analyses, which you'll find here.

Author: Christian Gerhardts

You can find further information on all the different coloured vinyl versions (eight!) in our news article.

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