peter gabriel's 'us'

[eric.walker@channel1.com (Eric Walker)]

     From Rolling Stone magazine, September issue:

     PETER GABRIEL'S 'US'

     Singer Releases First Album Since 1986's 'So'

          Peter Gabriel has exhibited characteristic thrift in choosing a
     name for his new record.  'Us,' Gabriel's first album of new songs
     since 1986's 'So,' is scheduled for a late-September release
     [September 22], and advance word suggests that it's his most
     confessional work to date.  Speaking on the phone from his recording
     studios in Bath, England, the singer-songwriter said nothing to refute
     that theory.
          "This record follows the breakup of a marriage and the breakup of
     another quite intense relationship," Gabriel said.  I had a five-year
     period of going to therapy, first as part of a couples' group, then
     with a singles' group.  I think it was a period when I was trying to
     understand what was going wrong and, in doing so, recognized bits in
     me that I didn't want to look at, that I didn't like."
          In the past, of course, Gabriel has often been known to address
     social and political dilemmas that some people don't really want to
     look at; and his social conscience certainly hasn't been dormant in
     the turbulent years since 'So.'  "I started writing a song about
     Tiananmen Square," he said, "and I was also working on a song about El
     Salvador.  But I thought it would probably be better to save material
     like that for the next record.  This one feels more personal and
     spiritual rather than social."
          Musically, Gabriel said, 'Us' is very much a successor to 1989's
     'Passion,' his acclaimed soundtrack to the Martin Scorsese film "The
     Last Temptation Of Christ."  "I think 'Passion' is one of the best
     things I've done, and I think doing it helped me to develop a freer
     sense of composition - something I've tried to integrate in writing
     songs for this new record."  The singersaid that composing
     instrumental music - he was also responsible for the haunting score to
     Alan Parker's 1984 film "Birdy" - has boosted his confidence as a
     musician and writer in general: "It's served as a wonderful
     education."
          So, Gabriel said, has his involvement in Real World Records.  An
     early and fundamental supporter of the British organization World of
     Music, Arts and Dance (WOMAD), Gabriel worked in conjunction with
     WOMAD to establish the Real World label, which is devoted to giving
     wider exposure to artists of diverse nationalities and cultures -
     artists who typically record at Gabriel's expansive studio complex in
     Bath.  "If someone who's around happens to do something great that
     sounds suitable, we get him upstairs," he said.
          Indeed, in recording 'Us' - which Gabriel coproduced with his
     'So' cohort, Daniel Lanois - the singer drew on an eclectic assemblage
     of artists from around the world, several of whom have recorded or
     plan to record for Real World.  In addition to a core group that
     includes Gabriel familiars such as guitarist David Rhodes, bassist
     Tony Levin and French drummer Manu Katche, the record features a host
     of guests including a Kenyan singer an Egyptian percussionist and a
     Russian folk choir.  Gabriel also called on Senegalese percussionists
     Doudo N'Diaye Rose and Babacar Faye and a flutist named Kudsi Erguner,
     "who is, I think," said Gabriel, "the leading whirling dervish."
          More familiar to most pop fans will be names like Sinead
     O'Connor, who sings on two tracks, and Lanois' sometime collaborator
     Brian Eno, who contributes some keyboards.  For all his interest in
     world music, Gabriel hasn't been ignoring trends in rock.  "I've heard
     some creative playing among today's younger musicians," Gabriel said.
     "There's still interesting work being done."
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