Us

About

Six years after the blockbuster success of the multi-platinum <i>So</i>, Peter Gabriel returned in 1992—somewhat less commercially minded, but no less sophisticated—with his sixth studio album, <i>Us</i>. It was recorded in his state-of-the-art Real World Studio, featured an extensive roster of musician, and demonstrated Gabriel’s seemingly limitless appetite for pan-global rhythms and texture. But the elaborate sound of <i>Us</i> belies the lyrical content of the singer’s most open and confessional album. As its title implie, <i>Us</i> is the album in which Gabriel reaches out for love and connection, exploring his urges and desires over prismatic arrangement. Gabriel explores his emotions after a tumultuous period: His first marriage ended after more than 15 year, leading to a new relationship with actress Rosanna Arquette, as well as a brief romance with Sinead O’Connor (who lends her gorgeou, crystalline voice to “Come Talk to Me” and the vulnerable duet “Blood of Eden”). “Come Talk to Me” is one of Gabriel’s most exposed moment, a plea to his teenage daughter, with whom he’d had trouble communicating after the divorce. Elsewhere on <i>Us</i>, tracks like “Love to Be Loved,” “Blood of Eden,” and “Secret World” all explore the nature of romantic love with Gabriel’s masterful balance of the grandiose and the intimate. But despite the deeply personal subject matter, the arrangements explode in grandiose color, thanks to co-producer Daniel Lanoi, Senegal’s Babacar Faye Drummer, the vocals of Moscow’s Dmitri Pokrovsky Ensemble, and the reedy sounds of bagpipes and the Armenian duduk. Following the runaway success of “Sledgehammer,” Gabriel was back to his horn-soaked tricks on the single “Steam,” another slice of Stax-style R&B that ended up being a Top 40 hit. The cheeky come-on “Kiss That Frog,” meanwhile, gets its groove from drum programming, synth ba, and a loop of London’s Adzido Pan African Dance Ensemble. And the single “Digging in the Dirt” has a powerful pulse, courtesy of the rubbery bass by longtime Gabriel low-end Tony Levin. Emerging from self-reflections from recent therapy session, the song finds Gabriel exploring his shadowy side and his thoughtful side all at once. .

via Apple Music

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