Peter Gabriel has unveiled ‘One By One’, the latest preview of his forthcoming album O\I, continuing the lunar release strategy that first defined I/O and offering further insight into the conceptual themes behind his next studio project.
by Paul Cashmere
Peter Gabriel has released the new song One By One to coincide with July’s full moon, maintaining the release pattern established for his previous album I/O. The track is the latest preview of his forthcoming eleventh studio album O\I, with its Bright-Side Mix by Mark ‘Spike’ Stent available now and a corresponding Dark-Side Mix by Tchad Blake scheduled for the next new moon.
The release provides the clearest indication yet that Gabriel intends to follow almost exactly the same rollout model that made I/O one of the most unusual album campaigns in recent years. Rather than unveiling the record through conventional singles, each song from O\I is being introduced individually on a full moon, followed weeks later by an alternate mix on the next new moon before the complete album is assembled at the end of the campaign.
For Gabriel, however, One By One is more than another instalment in that schedule. The song also expands what he describes as an ongoing “brain show”, a conceptual narrative that links several songs on the forthcoming record.
Written and produced by Gabriel, One By One centres on a character called Mozo, a figure first introduced years ago and now revived as part of the developing storyline.
“This is another song that comes out of the brain show that I am working on and the character has been effectively torn apart and is trying to reassemble himself one piece at a time,” Gabriel said.
“I needed a character for the story and I’d always wanted to do a little more with Mozo, who I had introduced many years back, and I thought, well, let’s give him another blast here. He’s been brought back from the dead.”
Gabriel said the story explores themes of rebuilding identity after trauma, drawing inspiration from both alchemy and the Japanese philosophy of kintsugi, where broken objects are repaired with precious metals rather than hiding their flaws.
“In Japanese culture they also have kintsugi where a broken cup is repaired with gold or precious metals and the repaired cup with its faults showing ends up more valuable than the original,” he explained.
“It’s a beautiful symbol for humanity, because we’re remarkably easy to break and trying to reassemble self, psyche and sanity, is really the journey of the song.”
The musician also acknowledged that the track deliberately unfolds at an unhurried pace.
“There are two or three story songs on the record and I actually like the length of time they occupy and I like the fact that you have to stay in it for the ride to understand the story,” he said.
“It’s a long journey, but I think its place in the show, which is percolating in my head, it’ll be towards the end, if not the end.”
Like every release in the current campaign, One By One is paired with commissioned artwork. The cover image, Pieces, was created by Canadian sculptor David Altmejd after Gabriel became interested in his work through the sculpture 9x9x9 in 2022.
Gabriel said Altmejd’s artistic process reflected the themes of the song.
“One of the things I loved about what David does is that he seems to get these images and ideas and then cuts them up and reassembles them,” Gabriel said.
“That worked perfectly for this song and I was excited that David was happy to be part of this project.”
Altmejd said the collaboration mirrored the way he approaches sculpture.
“‘One By One’ evokes a kind of spiritual evolution by piecing together the broken parts of oneself,” he said.
“This resonates deeply with me because I understand my sculptures as being made the same way. They start by forming themselves in matter, then they are destroyed, and finally reassembled in a way that makes them transcend materiality.”
Although Gabriel has yet to reveal the complete track listing for O\I, several details have emerged over the past year. The album is expected to feature newly recorded material alongside songs that originated during sessions for Us, Up and I/O. Some compositions date back to the early 1990s, while others were developed during work on Up and eventually carried forward through the lengthy creation of I/O.
The album follows 2023’s I/O, Gabriel’s first collection of new original songs in more than two decades. That record became notable not only for ending the longest gap between studio albums in his career but also for its unconventional release strategy. Beginning with Panopticom in January 2023, Gabriel issued a new song every full moon throughout the year, with Bright-Side and Dark-Side mixes prepared by Mark ‘Spike’ Stent and Tchad Blake respectively. Dolby Atmos In-Side mixes were also released, before the complete album was issued in December.
The approach proved commercially successful. I/O reached No. 1 in the UK, earned widespread critical acclaim and later won Grammy Awards for Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical and Best Immersive Audio Album.
Rather than treating that campaign as a one-off experiment, Gabriel has now transformed it into an ongoing release model. O\I continues the same lunar schedule while expanding the conceptual narrative that runs through much of the new material. With each full moon bringing another chapter, Gabriel is again allowing listeners to experience the project gradually before the finished album is released later in 2026.
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