Adventures in Listening, December 7, 2023: Just a Part of Everything
Peter Gabriel returns with an opus of interconnection, while Nigerian star Asake breathes new life into traditional forms. Plus: Yuletide jazz recommendations!
Peter Gabriel - i/o
It’s impossible to talk about the new Peter Gabriel album— it feels strange to even type those words— without mentioning its prolonged gestation. The famously fastidious tinkerer spent more than two decades refining the sound of i/o, and even then couldn’t make a decision about the final mix; the version you’ll find online contains both a Dark Side and a Bright Side mix, each one emphasizing or deemphasizing certain instruments, creating slightly different sonic effects. But while i/o certainly bears the hallmarks of a carefully-crafted labor of love, what astonishes most is how lightweight and welcoming the whole thing feels, stepping back from the fussed-over insularity of Up. To call this a pure pop record would be overstating things— Gabriel has never made any such thing— but it does find him balancing his artsier, moodier inclinations with cheerful, accommodating hooks like he hasn’t since Us. Maybe even since So.
The record’s spirit of accessibility is appropriate given its themes. The whole album is about our interconnectedness with one another, and our symbiotic relationship to the world around us. “I’m just a part of everything,” Gabriel muses in the title track, daydreaming about the day when his decomposed body will become a playground for maggots and worms. That may sound like a macabre kind of pantheism on paper— or else like a trite “Circle of Life” retread— but Gabriel imbues the sentiment with real depth and profundity. Much of i/o is about leaning into the joy of being an incarnate being in a physical space, savoring the tangible specifics of the created order and of our place within it. See also “Road to Joy,” a euphoric anthem about a human who wakes from a coma and experiences the return of life and feeling to once body part at a time, reveling in the simple gift of physicality.
Gabriel’s opus of interconnection also carries forward his typically synergistic pairing of the traditional and the technological, his music flavored with African grooves but also digital accouterments. His relationship to tech remains decidedly optimistic— “Panopticom” assesses the deep surveillance state, but wonders if it could become a tool for holding the rich and powerful to account. And then there’s “Olive Tree,” where a VR headset provides a gateway to renewed wonder at trees and grass.
Matters of faith and psychology have always loomed large in Gabriel’s work. At one end of the spectrum, there’s “Four Kinds of Horses,” a grim exploration of religious terrorism set to a chilly, synthetic backdrop. Meanwhile, the broader context of Gabriel’s work makes his MLK citation in the album-closing “Live and Let Live” ring true— this is the same guy who had an early hit about Steve Biko, after all— while the melancholy “And Still” remembers the singer’s late mother with intimate, personal detail.
The cumulative effect of these songs actually makes the album’s long incubation feel earned and significant: Its openness and optimism are the fruit of Gabriel’s age and maturity, and i/o feels like the kind of album he couldn’t have made without plenty of time for reflection. All of that comes out in “Playing for Time,” a Randy Newman-indebted tune that revisits Gabriel’s “Solsbury Hill” from a vantage point of wisdom and experience. It’s the high point in a rich, rewarding return from one of our most idiosyncratic sages.
Asake - Work of Art
I’m a sucker for any music that honors tradition by bringing it into the present day— even if it’s a tradition I’m largely unfamiliar with. Enter global superstar Asake, whose sophomore album Work of Art reinterprets regional Nigerian dance idioms through the aesthetic lens of American hip-hop. The album is a supernova of boisterous energy, boundless charm, and confident self-talk; Asake sings in a conversational, bilingual style, often switching languages mid-sentence as he ties together his adoration for God and his healthy esteem for his own ambition and ability. He made the album with boon producer Magicsticks, whose sympathetic style provides Asake with a mirrored hall of celebratory effects— dramatic strings, rapturous drums, and generous dollops of autotune, all arranged with the careful precision of a Wes Anderson diorama. Its 37 minutes jam-packed with cheerful vibes and pristine sound effects, Work of Art isn’t just the best African album I’ve heard this year— it might be the year’s best selection for driving around on a sunny day, windows down and speakers cranked high.
Brian Blade & The Fellowship Band - King’s Highway
No band is better at imbuing the sophistication of jazz with the plainspoken eloquence of folk and gospel traditions. If you uphold their 2008 masterpiece Season of Changes as a seminal record— I know I do— you’ll find plenty to love about King’s Highway, a similarly rousing marriage of the earthy and the sublime, dusty melodies and explosive improvisation. Guitarist Kurt Rosenwinkel is back in the fold, adding just a little prog-rock madness, but everything gets their chance to shine. Check the title song— yes, all 13 minutes of it— to hear how this band functions at both the collective and individual levels, with some especially striking solos from bassist Christopher Thomas and pianist/co-leader Jon Cowherd. This is one of the best albums yet from the Fellowship Band, and evidence enough that jazz isn’t just a major tributary in American song— it’s the mouth of the river.
Warren Wolf - Christmas Vibes
Matt Wilson - Matt Wilson’s Christmas Tree-O
John Zorn - A Dreamers Christmas
The Respect Sextet - Respect in Yule
If you don’t already subscribe to Nate Chinen’s must-read jazz newsletter, The Gig, you really should— not least because he’s been rounding up some of his favorite seasonal selections, including some that you’ve heard but plenty that you haven’t. The titles listed above have been especially fun discoveries for me. But of course, you’ll never go wrong with the Guaraldi.
Coming Next Week: My Top 10 Albums of 2023!