Recommendations of the Editorial team
May 31st brings the second full moon of the month – also known as the Blue Moon – and with it a new single from Peter Gabriel’s slowly maturing project “o/i”: “A Hard Lesson”.
As with his previous album, “i/o” from 2023, he is creating his upcoming work piece by piece: The songs from “o/i” will appear with every full moon over the course of 2026 – until the album is finally released in full.
“A Hard Lesson” is the oldest song on the project, as Peter Gabriel revealed on his website. He wrote it in the late eighties or early nineties while he was in Senegal.
Polyrhythms from Senegal
“I fell in love with the music I heard there. I loved the tension created by the use of polyrhythms – especially the interplay between groups of three and four. That was the starting point of this song,” he wrote.
“It’s a weird, strange and long track, but it’s a journey. It’s about finding a place – your place, about how you fit in. I enjoyed playing with old R&B and folk references.”
Decades in the drawer
Explaining why the song took so long to see the light of day, he said: “Some things take time – most people work much faster – but I have no problem understanding my own process. Some things mature and develop on their own, others just stay hidden in a box until their moment in the spotlight comes.”
As with the previously released “o/i” songs, the track will be released in two mixes. The one released on Sunday is a bright side mix by Mark “Spike” Stent. According to his website, Tchad Blake’s Dark Side mix will be released “at the next moon.”
