A New Deal For Peter Gabriel

Peter Gabriel is restarting his record label, Real World, with a new collaborative album and a slew of reissues. Newly distributed in the United States by Ryko, Real World will make its entire catalog available online and rerelease some of its albums on CD, with bonus material. The label’s first new project is Big Blue Ball, a group that includes Mr. Gabriel and Karl Wallinger of World Party.

The album, due in May, has been in the works for 15 years, and the first single, “Whole Thing,” went on sale on iTunes last Tuesday. Real World’s catalog includes albums by Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Sheila Chandra, the Blind Boys of Alabama, Papa Wemba and others.