Peter Gabriel Releases ‘Put The Bucket Down’ Single

Peter Gabriel shared “Put The Bucket Down,” his latest single previewing the forthcoming studio album, oi. The track, like the prior issued lead single, was released to coincide with the full moon.

Gabriel’s full-moon connected singles rollout mirrors the approach he took with his similarly titled 2023 album, i/o. Previous collaborating producers, Tchad Blake and Mark “Spike” Stent, created separate mixes for each of the tracks on o\i.

Gabriel shared “Put The Bucket Down” with artwork by Tomás Saraceno and this accompanying statement:

“As a side project, I am working on a show with the brain as the central core and there are a number of songs, some on i/o and some on o\i that will be part of that. This is one of those and it’s a point in the narrative where we can both read and write thoughts and the person singing is not sure whether he has his own thoughts or not. Is he inside his own mind or inside someone else’s?

“The ‘bucket’ is all the crap that goes around our head all the time, so it is putting the bucket down to find your way forward…

“I started building rhythmic elements around, what I call a lop-sided loop and got quite excited. When we had the band play it, it really came to life so that feels good for me. The band and me working away is the bulk of the song, but when we were in the orchestral sessions I asked John Metcalfe to come up with a part – it was scribbled out on the day in the studio – which is ridiculously simple, but it serves the song nicely.

“We’re also blessed with horn players. I was very lucky on the last record to play with Paolo Fresu and then Josh Shpak on the tour and they’ve both done a version of the instrumental melody on this too.”

Click below to stream Stent’s “Put The Bucket Down” Bright-Side Mix (Blake’s Dark-Side Mix will be issued to coincide with this month’s new moon).