So Much (Peter Gabriel song)

Last updated
"So Much"
So Much cover art.jpg
Single by Peter Gabriel
from the album I/O
Released
  • 3 July 2023 (dark-side mix)
  • 17 July 2023 (bright-side and in-side mixes)
  • 19 July 2023 (guitar version)
Studio
Length4:50
Label
Songwriter(s) Peter Gabriel
Producer(s) Peter Gabriel
Peter Gabriel singles chronology
"Road to Joy"
(2023)		"So Much"
(2023)		"Olive Tree"
(2023)

"So Much" is a song by English musician Peter Gabriel, released in July 2023 as the seventh single in promotion of his tenth studio album I/O . Similar to other singles from the album, "So Much" was released to coincide with a full moon, starting with the Dark-Side Mix produced by Tchad Blake. Later in the month, two additional mixes created by Mark 'Spike' Stent and Hans-Martin Buff were released. [1]

Contents

Background

He started the song between 2015 and 2016 with the intention of writing something with a simple chorus that "still had a bit of character to it". [2] He first revealed the song's title in 2020 when he responded to an article by Phillip Collins in The Times . In his response, Gabriel described "So Much" as a "getting old song". [3] Gabriel said that the song was about mortality and aging. He selected the title of "So Much" due to his "addiction to new ideas and all sorts of projects." [4]

I get excited by things and want to jump around and do different things. I love being in a mess of so much! And yet it also means there's just so much time, or whatever it is, available. Balancing them both is what the song is about. [4]

Gabriel claimed in his Full Moon Update that the song was a bit polarizing, that "it will split an audience" "about 50/50" with those who love it and those who don't care for it. [5] According to Gabriel, Tchad Blake called it "the best thing that he has ever done." [5]

In addition to Blake's Dark-Side mix, a Bright-Side mix and In-Side mix, created by Mark 'Spike' Stent and Hans-Martin Buff respectively, were released on 17 July 2023. The Bright-Side mix included more prominent cello, bass, and guitar during the intro. [2] Another mix of the song, dubbed the "Guitar Version), was oriented around electric guitar arpeggios played by David Rhodes and also featured extra reverb and keyboards. Gabriel explained that he attempted to take the song in a different direction due to his belief that i/o "had enough piano". He later decided that the piano version felt more personal, so he reverted back to that arrangement. [2]

Artwork

Henry Hudson created the cover artwork, titled Somewhere Over Mercia. [1] The artwork features a yellow horizontal line imposed over an indigo sky. Gabriel gravitated towards Hudson's work with expressionist artwork surrounding horizons and said that Hudson wanted to undercut the horizon with a yellow streak so that it would seep into the rest of the painting. He believed that the cover artwork possessed "good symbolism" with how it conveyed an "infinite horizon" with a boundary. [6]

Personnel

Orchestra

Charts

Chart performance for "So Much"
Chart (2023)Peak
position
German Downloads (Offizielle Download Top 100) [7] 85
UK Singles Downloads (OCC) [8] 69

References

  1. 1 2 "So Much". PeterGabriel.com. Retrieved 1 August 2023.
  2. 1 2 3 Marziano, Alfredo; Perasi, Luca (2024). Peter Gabriel: The Rhythm Has My Soul. Milan, Italy: L.I.L.Y Publishing. pp. 296–297. ISBN   978-88-909122-5-2.
  3. ↑ "Peter Gabriel is working on a new song". 11 March 2020. Retrieved 11 April 2024.
  4. 1 2 Rettig, James (3 July 2023). "Peter Gabriel Shares New Song "So Much": Listen". Stereogum . Retrieved 13 February 2025.
  5. 1 2 "Peter Gabriel Full Moon July 2023". YouTube. 14 July 2023. Retrieved 1 August 2023.
  6. ↑ Anderson, Carys (3 July 2023). "Peter Gabriel Unveils New Song "So Much": Stream". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved 3 June 2024.
  7. ↑ "Download Charts Single". GfK Entertainment charts. Archived from the original on 11 July 2023. Retrieved 28 May 2024.
  8. ↑ "Official Singles Downloads Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 7 June 2023.
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