Last night was the blue moon and the second full moon of the month. “A Hard Lesson” is the newest song to be released from the forthcoming Peter Gabriel album o\i. The ditty is written by Gabriel and produced by Gabriel and Mike Elizondo. The first mix to be released is the Bright-Side Mix by Mark ‘Spike’ Stent. “This is the oldest track of the project. It probably started in the late 80s or early 90s when I was in Senegal. I was falling in love with the music I heard there. I loved the tension created by the use of polyrhythms, particularly the threes and fours, so that was the start of this song. It’s quirky, strange and long track but it’s a journey. It’s about trying to find a place, your place, how you fit in. I’ve enjoyed playing with old R&B and folk references as well,” said the artist.
Gabriel adds: It’s one of those songs that has been in the ‘almost’ category on a couple of earlier projects but it’s had to wait 30 or 40 years before actually hitting the surface. Sometimes things take time – most people do stuff a lot faster – but I have no problem with understanding my own process. Some things will mature and evolve spontaneously and some will just stay hidden-away in a box until their moment in the light appears.
The art for “Hard Lesson” are still images from a film by the Belgian born, Mexico City based, artist Francis Alÿs. His film Cuentos Patrióticos was created with Rafael Ortega and references an event in 1968 where civil servants were ordered to congregate in the centre of Mexico City, in response to a student demonstration against the government. Instead of showing support for the government they responded by making sheep noises in protest.
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