"And Still" is a song by English musician Peter Gabriel as the eleventh single in promotion of his tenth studio album I/O. Similar to other songs on the album, "And Still" received multiple mixes, starting with Dark-Side mix, which released on 28 October 2023 and produced by Tchad Blake. This was followed by the Bright-Side and In-Side mixes on 13 November 2023.[1] It is the longest track on the album, clocking in at nearly eight minutes.
Background
According to Gabriel, the song is written for his parents. Elaborating on this in a press release, Gabriel stated:
"I wrote a song for my dad a number of years back, which I was actually able to play him, which was 'Father, Son'. When my mum died, I wanted to do something for her, but it's taken a while before I felt comfortable and distant enough to be able to write something. I was trying also to write a little bit in the style of the music that my parents responded to, so I think there is some music from the 40s probably that had an influence on the song. In the middle I wanted to write my mum a beautiful melody. She loved classical music, so we have a beautiful cello playing there. It took a while to get that right, it can't be too emotional or too underplayed, but I think we got there in the end."[2][3]
The artwork for the single release was made by artist Megan Rooney, specifically the piece "And Still (Time)". According to Gabriel, they had initially decided on a piece she had already painted, but then confronted Gabriel on wanting to paint something new. However, after working on the new piece, she felt that it wasn't good enough and decided to go back to using an existing piece.[1][4]
Critical reception
Writing for The Guardian, Alexis Petridis compared the instrumentation of "And Still" to the early work of Genesis, particularly in regards to the piano, flute and cello. He further stated that the song reflected the lyrical theme of aging that pervades i/o and felt that Gabriel was "haunted by the passing of a previous generation on 'And Still'".[5] Helen Brown of The Independent praised "And Still" as "a spine-tingling journey" that offered a glimpse into Gabriel's upbringing.[6]
Personnel
Peter Gabriel – lead vocals, backing vocals, treated vocals, piano, synths, programming, glass harp
