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Rating: The birth "I", the growth "II", the establishment "III", the transition "IV", the multilateral polarization "Birdy-Passion-Long Walk Home", the subjective expressive intensity "Plays Live-Secret World Live", the evolution "So", the navigation of "Us" to converge into "Ovo" and complete a life cycle in "Up".
An omnivorous man who does not know perpetual routine and is a constant nonconformist, he experiments to elevate and distinguish himself. This album was deliberately released on September 21, the last full moon of summer, where there is silence, in the dark night of a boundless universe above our lands and where there is noise and humidity, in the boundless lands beneath our feet, moon and water constitute two fundamental elements for Gabriel. In fact, he creates the Real World in a forest open to the starry vision and next to a fairy-like stream. Being a great supporter of the relationship between sound and matter, he applies technological experiments that lead to the creation of new sounds. He uses this already at the start with the creation of the cover where his enlarged and blurred face is reflected in a close-up of small drops of water that fall and delicately and maternally rest on his palm. These drops are created by the flowing water from a small tube, which, attached to an amplifier, causes the sound wave to transform the flowing water into small individual droplets, and Gabriel associates this decomposition of continuous flow with our life journey.
"Darkness" the opening is imposing and communicative like the heartbeat of a life in the making accompanied by silent and thoughtful intervals and suddenly the traumatic scream for the transition from the womb to the impact with the outside and the end of the track where the heartbeat fades until it dies, a maxim of life, an interrogative journey between birth and mortality - "Growing Up" cello and electronics and the first fears, the anguish of not knowing how to grow and coexist with the outside world, exploration of individuality, genetic mutation, equilibrium station for the antinomy - "Sky Blue" pompous and velvety, sky blue, graced by the gospel of the Blind Boys Of Alabama chasing voice and guitar (reworked in the soundtrack of "Rabbit-Proof Fence") - "No Way Out" mature, intense and melancholic where Lady Death engraves irreversible pain and is accompanied by organ, piano, and voice, imploringly - "I Grieve" track that highlights again the suffering for the loss of a loved one and the ability to fight to help oneself to continue overcoming and living even in intrinsic pain (skeletally present in the soundtrack of "City Of Angels") - "The Barry Williams Show" interval of everyday banality amid noise and the most cynical consumerism, all in an electronic setting - "My Head Sounds Like That" piano and melodic percussion interrupted by "heavy" intrusions and concluded in floatability, still in search of himself through sound - "More Than This" adorable and also unattainable track, an introspective, analytical journey, a game of succession between voice, piano, and guitar... much, much more than this exists, there's something else, when everything you had is no longer... - "Signal To Noise" a reflection on mortality and human compassion, the extraordinary voice of the late Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, the crescendo of strings and the sonic explosion in unison, make it unique - "The Drop" a close relationship between piano and voice and... how many times have we been enchanted by watching in the sky those whipped cream mountains transforming into bizarre shapes? But then, what is beyond the white clouds...
And someone rightly said that music is too necessary for Gabriel (as it is for many of us) to be treated like any transgenic seed, it profits and is eternal joy that molds the soul, while we daily set out to combat the fear that makes the human dimension interesting, every time you face it and overcome it, you release a great amount of atomic energy.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 Darkness (06:49)
i'm scared of swimming in the sea
dark shapes moving under me
every fear i swallow makes me small
inconsequential things occur
alarms are triggered
memories stir
it's not the way it has to be
i'm afraid of what i do not know
i hate being undermined
i'm afraid i can be devil man
and i'm scared to be divine
don't mess with me my fuse is short
beneath this skin these fragments caught
when i allow it to be
there's no control over me
i have my fears
but they do not have me
walking through the undergrowth, to the house in the woods
the deeper i go, the darker it gets
i peer through the window
knock at the door
and the monster i was
so afraid of
lies curled up on the floor
is curled up on the floor just like a baby boy
i cry until i laugh
i'm afraid of being mothered
with my balls shut in the pen
i'm afraid of loving women
and i'm scared of loving men
flashbacks coming in every night
don't tell me everything’s alright
when i allow it to be
it has no control over me
i own my fear
so it doesn’t own me
walking through the undergrowth, to the house in the woods
the deeper i go, the darker it gets
i peer through the window
knock at the door
and the monster i was
so afraid of
lies curled up on the floor
is curled up on the floor just like a baby boy
i cry until i laugh
Drums: Manu Katche, Dave Power
Percussion: Mahut Dominique, Ged Lynch, Richard Chappell
Bass: Tony Levin
Guitars: David Rhodes
The London Session Orchestra: Strings
String Arrangement: Peter Gabriel, Will Gregory
Orchestration: Nick Ingham
Programming: Richard Chappell
Additional Programming: Alex Swift
Bosendorfer, Mutator, Keys, JamMan, MPC Groove: Peter Gabriel
02 Growing Up (07:48)
folded in your fleshy purse
i am floating once again
while the muted sounds are pumping rhythm
all the walls close in on me
pressure's building wave on wave
till the water breaks - and outside i go, oh
one dot, that's on or off, defines what is and what is not, one dot
two dot, a pair of eyes, a voice, a touch, complete surprise, two dot
growing up, growing up,
looking for a place to live
growing up, growing up,
gooking for a place to live
growing up, growing up,
looking for a place to live
my ghost likes to travel so far in the unknown
my ghost likes to travel so deep into your space
three dot, a trinity, a way to map the universe,
three dot
four dot, is what will make a square, a bed to build on, it's all there,
four dot
my ghost likes to travel so far in the unknown
my ghost likes to travel so deep into your space
all the slow clouds pass us by
make the Empire State look high
as you take me in your sea-stained sweetness
it spills, it tingles and it stings
all the pleasure that it brings
till the door has let the outside inside here
well on the floor there's a long wooden table
on the table there's an open book
on the page there's a detailed drawing
and on the drawing is the name i took
my ghost likes to travel so far in the unknown
my ghost likes to travel so deep into your space
growing up, growing up,
looking for a place to live
growing up, growing up,
looking for a place to live
growing up, growing up,
looking for a place to live
growing up, growing up,
looking for a place to live
my ghost likes to travel
my ghost likes to travel
moving inside of your space
my ghost likes to travel
my ghost likes to travel
moving inside of your space
my ghost likes to travel
moving inside
my ghost likes to travel
moving Inside of your space
my ghost likes to travel
moving inside
my ghost likes to travel
moving inside of your space
the breathing stops, i don't know when
in transition once again
such a struggle getting through these changes
and it all seems so absurd
to be flying like a bird
when i do not feel i've really landed here.
Drums: Ged Lynch, Manu Katche
Percussion: Ged Lynch
Guitars: David Rhodes
Backing Vocals: AD Chivers, David Rhodes
Tape Scratching: Tchad Blake
Programming: Richard Chappell
Additional Programming: Pete Davis, Alex Swift
Organ, Sample Keys, Bass Keys, JamMan and MPC Groove: Peter Gabriel
Additional Production by Steve Osborne
03 Sky Blue (06:37)
lost my time lost my place in
sky blue
those two blue eyes light your face in
sky blue
i know how to fly, i know how to drown in
sky blue
warm wind blowing over the earth
sky blue
i sing through the land, the land sings through me
sky blue
reaching into the deepest shade of
sky blue
sky blue so tired of all this travelling
so many miles away from home
i keep moving to be stable
free to wander, free to roam
train pulled out said my goodbyes
sky blue
back on the road alone with the sky
sky blue
there's a presence here no one denies
sky blue
sky blue so tired of all this travelling
so many miles away from home
i keep moving to be stable
free to wander, free to roam
i can hear the same voice calling
crying out, from my heart
and that cry, what a cry
what a cry, it's going to be
if i can stop to let it out, oh.
Drums: Manu Katche
Percussion: Ged Lynch, Daniel Lanois
Bass: Tony Levin
Guitars: David Rhodes, Daniel Lanois, Peter Green
Hammond: David Sancious
Additional Vocals: The Blind Boys Of Alabama
Programming: Richard Chappell
Additional Prgramming: Alex Swift
Backing Vocals: David Rhodes, Melanie Gabriel
Firefly Keys, Bosendorfer, Bass Pulse, MPC Groove: Peter Gabriel
Samples taken from original track Produced by Daniel Lanois and Engineered by
David Bottrill
05 I Grieve (07:24)
It was only one hour ago
It was all so different then
Nothing yet has really sunk in
Looks like it always did
This flesh and bone
Is just the way that you were tied in
Now there's no one home
I grieve for you
And you leave me
It's so hard to move on
Still loving what's gone
And still life carries on
Carries on and on, and on, and on
The news that truly shocks
Is the empty, empty page
While the final rattle rocks
Its empty, empty cage
And I can't handle this
I grieve for you
You leave me
Let it out and move on
Missing what's gone
They say life carries on
They say life carries on, and on, and on
Life carries on in the people I meet
In everyone that's out on the street
In all the dogs and cats
In the flies and rats
In the rot and the rust
In the ashes and the dust
Life carries on and on, and on, and on
Life carries on and on, and on
It's just the car that we ride in
A home we reside in
The face that we hide in
The way we are tied in
And life carries on and on, and on, and on
Life carries on and on and on
Did I dream this belief
Or did I believe this dream
Now I can find relief
I grieve
07 The Drop (02:58)
moving down the fuselage
toward the open door
catch you looking down outside
to see what lies ahead
one by one
you watch them fall
fall through cloud
one by one
you watch them fall
no idea where they're going
but down
where they've gone
where they've gone
watching as the sun goes down
i sit inside this plane
notice how the city lights
are like the nerves inside the brain
one by one
they're going out
you watch them dim
one by one
you watch them fall
and wonder where they're falling to
Bosendorfer: Peter Gabriel
Programming: Richard Chappell
Mixed: Richard Chappell
09 My Head Sounds Like That (06:26)
the metal jangles as the key turns
unlock the door, wipe my feet clean
oh my head sounds like that
the oil is spitting in the saucepan
i squeeze the sponge and let the cat out
oh my head sounds like that
oh my head
oh oh oh
oh oh oh
the water's dripping in the hallway
the guy next door, he knocks his wall down
oh my head sounds like that
the knife it scrapes across the burnt brown toast
the freight train rumbles past my window
oh my head sounds like that
oh my head
oh oh oh
oh oh oh
oh oh oh
around the axis we all spin
to determine what's left out and what's left in
what's left out and what's left in
what's left out and what's left in
who's left out and who's left in
who's left in
the moments come and go like water
i try to hold them but they're fading
oh my head sounds like that
oh my head
oh oh oh
Drums: Manu Katche
Percussion: Assane Thiam, Ged Lynch, Mahut Dominique, Hossam Ramzy
Guitars: David Rhodes
Bass: Tony Levin
Brass: The Black Dyke Mills Band
Brass Arrangement: Peter Gabriel, Ed Shearmur, Bob Ezrin
Loop Manipulation: Richard Chappell
Programming: Richard Chappell
Piano, Mellotron: Peter Gabriel
11 Signal to Noise (07:30)
You know the way that things go
When what you fight for starts to fall
And in that fuzzy picture
The writing stands out on the wall
So clearly on the wall
[Wailing]
Send out the signals, deep and loud
And in this place can you reassure me
With a touch, a smile -
While the cradle's burning
All the while the world is turning to noise
Oh, the more that it's surrounding us
The more that it destroys
Turn up the signal - wipe out the noise!
Send out the signals, deep and loud
Man, I'm losing sound and sight
Of all those who can tell me wrong from right
When all things beautiful and bright sink in the night
Yet there's still there's something in my heart
That can find a way to make a start
To turn up the signal - wipe out the noise!
You know that's it
Receive and transmit
Signal to noise.
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Other reviews
By Mr_Iko
"UP is a difficult product, it’s mature music from a mature artist."
"You will be captivated by Peter’s sober elegance, by his lucid sonic innovation."
By Lesto BANG
"A record with a gestation of over 10 years, a nocturnal work channeling introverted existentialism into impeccable song form."
"For what I need, I need crappier music and this, all in all, is not as hideous as I expected: boring yes, but hideous would be unfair!"
