Here is the second single from Peter Gabriel's new album "i/o", which will be revealed on every full moon, it's titled "The Court" and the first version is the Dark-Side Mix, released in the night between February 4th and 5th.

Listen to it and buy it here AMAZON MUSIC.

The piece is accompanied by a cover image (above) depicting the ritual installation Facelift the Curse by artist and sculptor Tim Shaw.

Peter writes:

"I had this idea for the refrain of 'the court will rise', which became a free-form, impressionistic lyric that referred to justice, but with a sense of urgency.

Much of life is a struggle between order and chaos and in a sense the judicial or legal system is something we enforce to try to bring some element of order out of the chaos.

It is often abused, often unfair and discriminatory, but at the same time it is probably an essential part of a civilized society. But sometimes we have to think about how this is actually being accomplished and employed."

Hear it in the video:

Written and produced by Peter Gabriel, "The Court" was recorded at Real World Studios in Wiltshire and The Beehive in London, and features contributions from Brian Eno, Tony Levin, David Rhodes and Manu Katché, plus backing vocals by Peter's daughter Melanie Gabriel.

The orchestral arrangement is the work of John Metcalfe with Peter Gabriel and was recorded at British Grove Studios in London with some musicians who had previously been part of the New Blood Orchestra.

The song is partly inspired by the work of NAMATI, whose mission is to provide people around the world with access to justice they might not otherwise be able to afford.

"I advise you to take a look", Peter says. They do a great job, bringing together teams from all over the world to help solve different problems."

The first song released was "Panopticum". Here are the three versions:

Bright-Side Mix - Listen and buy it here AMAZON MUSIC.

Dark-Side Mix, by Tchad Blake - Listen and buy it here AMAZON MUSIC.

In-Side Mix - Listen and buy it here AMAZON MUSIC.

The project foresees that all the songs of "i/o" - which are released every month - are accompanied by a Bright-Side and a Dark-Side Mix, with releases corresponding to the full moon and the new moon, and an In- Side.

Peter explains:

"I'm fortunate to have two of the best mixing engineers in the world, Tchad Blake and Mark 'Spike' Stent, working with me on i/o's music. Rather than picking just one of their mixes to release, I've decided that the folks should be able to hear all the great work they both are doing.

I'm going to ask them to mix one song every month: Spike's mixes will be called Bright-Side and Tchad's mixes Dark-Side. Whether you hear the Bright-Side or the Dark-Side first will vary every full moon, depending on the order in which we decide to release them.

I know this amount of detail isn't for everyone, but I hope those who are passionate about music production will enjoy their diverse interpretations."

The "In-Side mix" was created by Hans-Martin Buff in the Red Room at Real World Studios and his studio Aural Majority Pad, Boofland.

As with the Bright and Dark-Side mixes, all i/o songs will also receive the In-Side treatment and can be heard on Apple Music and Amazon.

Buff is doing these immersive mixes for Atmos, which allow for a sort of three-dimensional illusion, of putting people inside three-dimensional space.

Written and produced by Peter, it was recorded at Real World Studios in Wiltshire and The Beehive in London.

Here is Gabriel's account:

The track is accompanied by a cover image by artist David Spriggs, seen above. 

“It builds on an idea I have been working on to start building an accessible and infinitely expandable globe of data: The Panopticom. We are starting to connect a group of like-minded people who may be able to bring this project to life, to allow the world to see itself better and to better understand what is really happening", writes Peter Gabriel in his newsletter.

Musically, "Panopticum" features longtime collaborators Tony Levin, David Rhodes and Manu Katché, with electronics by Brian Eno.

Additional vocals are by Ríoghnach Connolly of The Breath.

The text is partly inspired by the work of three groups, Forensic Architecture, Bellingcat and the pioneering human rights organization WITNESS, founded by Gabriel.

More info on "Panopticum": CLICK HERE.

Watch here a short film about the work of artist David Spriggs, whose artwork 'Red Gravity' accompanies the release of Peter Gabriel's song 'Panopticum'.

David Spriggs' work is placed in a space between two and three dimensions. In his work he explores phenomena, space-time and movement, colour, visual systems and surveillance, strategies and symbols of power and the thresholds of form and perception. Spriggs is internationally known for his one-of-a-kind large-scale ephemeral 3D installations using a technique he pioneered in 1999, which involves layering transparent images.