‘70s, ‘80s rock singer to release new album based on moon schedule

One of the biggest music stars of the 1970s and '80s is releasing a new album in 2026 with an unusual schedule.

Peter Gabriel announced "o/i," a follow-up to 2023's Grammy-winning "i/o," will be out this year. Like the previous album, a new song will be released during each full moon, beginning Saturday, Jan. 3, with the single "Been Undone."

The iconic singer said the entire "o/i" album will be released by the end of the calendar year. In keeping with the lunar theme, there will be "Dark-Side" and "Bright-Side" mixes of each song; the "Bright-Side" versions will arrive during each month's new moon.

According to Ultimate Classic Rock , each song will also come with a unique piece of visual art. The single cover for "Been Undone" features Brazilian artist Janaina Mello Landini's "Ciclotrama 156 (Palindrome)," described as "a mirrored composition structured around a central knot, allowing the piece to be read forward and backward as a visual and structural palindrome."

"The way she takes the rope and moves it out, unravelling it, is almost like fractals or tree trunks and looks like the brain in some ways too, so I see a lot of entry points," Gabriel said in a statement.

Gabriel, 75, is a progressive rock singer who first rose to fame as the lead vocalist for Genesis with Phil Collins . Gabriel went solo in 1975 and had a string of hit songs like "Solsbury Hill," "Sledgehammer," "In Your Eyes" (featured in John Cusack's "Say Anything" boombox scene), "Games Without Frontiers," "I Have the Touch" (recently featured in the movie "Marty Supreme"), "Biko," and "Don't Give Up" (with Kate Bush ). His 2010 album "Scratch My Back" features popular covers of "Heroes" (by David Bowie ) and "The Book of Love" (by The Magnetic Fields).

Gabriel was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Genesis. The English musician's career also includes six Grammys, three Brit Awards, 13 MTV Video Music Awards (including a record 9 VMAs for "Sledgehammer" in 1987), a Man of Peace Award for his human rights activism, and an Oscar nomination for "Down to Earth" (from the Disney-Pixar film "Wall-E").

The "i/o" and "o/i" concept albums are his first collections of new music since 2011's "New Blood." The next single will be out on the next full moon Feb. 1, breaking with the music industry's traditional Friday release schedule.

"I have been thinking about the future and how we might respond to it," Gabriel said in a statement. "We are sliding into a period of transition like no other, most likely triggered in three waves: AI, quantum computing and the brain computer interface. Artists have a role to look into the mists and, when they catch sight of something, to hold up a mirror.

"These are my lumpy bits – 'i/o': the inside has a new way out and 'o\i': the outside has a new way in."

"We are not, and have never been, the exclusively self-determining, independent beings that have been given the run of the world. We are something else, a part of nature, a part of everything and feeling a connection, shaking our booty and giving and receiving some love can help us find our place - and put a big smile on our faces," Gabriel continued.

"Some of these songs are going to form part of the brain project that I've been exploring for a number of years, and some just make me feel happy. I hope you like them."

Read the original article on syracuse.com .