Peter Gabriel shares new single ‘Playing for Time’
Acclaimed singer Peter Gabriel has released the third track from his forthcoming album i/o, entitled ‘Playing For Time’. Gabriel touchingly released the song on the night of the full moon, as he had done for the previous two tracks from his new record.
Discussing the new track, Gabriel wrote on his website, “‘Playing For Time’ is a song that I have been working on for a long time and have performed live, without lyrics, so some people may be familiar with it. It’s been an important song for me. It’s about time, mortality and memories and the idea that each of us has a planet full of memories which get stashed inside the brain.”
He added, “It is more of a personal song about how you assemble memories and whether we are prisoners of time or whether that is something that can actually free us. I do think it’s good to push yourself towards more bold or interesting experiences because then you will have richer memories to feed you when you get to my age. You also get taught by every meaningful experience that you go through.”
The song was written and produced by Gabriel himself and was recorded at the Real World Studios in Wiltshire and also at The Beehive in London. As for its personnel, we can hear the likes of Tom Cawley on piano, while Ed Shearmur provided the orchestral arrangement, recording at the British Grove Studios in London by several players formerly of the New Blood Orchestra.
Gabriel noted the brilliance that the other players brought to the song. He said, “even though I performed and played piano live quite a lot, I felt that this was something that I could get a real piano player in for, and Tom Cawley is a brilliant musician. When I first heard the demos, it brought a tear to the eye because I felt so much emotion in it, particularly at the end. That was definitely what I wanted to try and do with this song, to give that emotional journey. It means a lot to me.”
The song opens with piano lines reminiscent of Max Richter’s Sleep album before Gabriel comes in with his best Disney ballad impression to perhaps take away from the tenderness of Tom Cawley’s wonderous tinkering on the keys. The string sections rise to give a bit more emotional weight to the track, but one can’t help that perhaps Gabriel is getting in the way somewhat. Still, it’s a tender effort that will provide some kind of solace to ears more attuned to Gabriel’s new style.
Check out the track below and another of Gabriel’s new songs here.
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