I write about random things a lot. I write a lot about random things. And every now and then, I get the opportunity to share something truly inspiring with you, and it's those times when I most enjoy writing to you every week. Like this week.

Unless you've spent some time in your life digging through old records, old music on old albums that belong to someone you know, chances are split whether or not you're familiar with the music of Peter Gabriel. Born in 1950 in Surrey, England, Gabriel launched his music career by founding the theater-rock group Genesis with his schoolmates at the age of 17.

During the 1970s, however, Gabriel was at the centre of a lot of tension with the band, and decided to leave. His solo career began with four self-titled records from 1977 to 1982 — spawning singles like "Solsbury Hill," "Games Without Frontiers," "Shock The Monkey" and more — however it was his 1986 album So that forever cemented his place among musical geniuses for all time.

Since that busy period in the 1980s, Gabriel hasn't released much new music; while he regularly produces soundtracks and collections of compositions, much of his time these days is spent working on some project or another, further pushing the boundaries between art and music and life.

In 2000, it was OVO, the soundtrack for the Millenium Dome Show in London, England. 2008 saw the release of Big Blue Ball, the world music sculpture album 18 years in the making, and just last year Gabriel released Scratch My Back, a collection of cover songs reimagined as orchestral versions of themselves performed without guitars or drums.

Which is directly responsible for New Blood, which hit stores October 11. While touring the Scratch My Back project, Gabriel decided to rework some of his catalogue to perform in the second half — applying the same orchestral filter to his previous work.

Gabriel began the album streaming last week; every hour on the hour, another song from the album would become available to stream, cycling over and over leading up to the release this week. The music is sweeping, at times delicate, at times devastating. Such interesting new insight has been coaxed out of these songs, unexpected arrangements meander throughout, compelling you to listen to every second.

For me, the only moment that wasn't perfection was vocalist Ane Brun on "Don't Give Up," a vocal part so dear to me that it doesn't sound right when performed from a tender angle. But that's just me, the good news is that New Blood will inspire you uniquely.

Peter Gabriel is a pretty fascinating artist with a really cool discography — if you're interested in more about his music, his awardwinning humanitarian work or his latest collaborative projects, visit his website at petergabriel.com or consider following him on Twitter @itspetergabriel.

And for more music news, views and streams you can follow me on Twitter @fsu_bobbyisms or on Tumblr at bobbyisms.com, and definitely check out the Music Recommendations thread in our FSU social network while you're in there. I'm out of words.