Peter Gabriel hasn’t released a proper solo album in 20 years, but it’s looking like that’s going to change soon. The long-awaited follow-up to 2002’s Up may be here before the end of the year, according to Gabriel’s longtime drummer Manu Katché, who said in June interview with L’Illustré that “we’re finishing our new album,” with a world tour to follow in 2023.

Back in March, Katché also mentioned a new album when speaking to the French newspaper ouest France, noting that it would be out before the end of the year. I/O is currently the working title. Late last year, in October 2021, Gabriel told Italian magazine SPECCHIO that he and his band had recently worked on 17 songs in the studio for 10 days. Gabriel has also sporadically shared photos of himself, Katché, bassist Tony Levin, and guitarist David Rhodes working at Real World Studio.

Likewise, in 2020, Gabriel told UNCUT: “I’m excited by what is being cooked at the moment — I have been slowed down quite a lot by lockdown, we’ve not been able to have Dickie my engineer here — but I have enough songs that I like to make a record I’m proud of.” When asked if that meant we could expect a new album “soon,” he replied: “It would depend on how you define ‘soon’, but the answer is yes!”