Peter Gabriel and his new album "i/o": every single comes out with a full moon.
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.
Peter Gabriel Social Media Updates:
In addition to the new releases of each full moon, other versions of each song will be inserted here, whether it's another mix, maybe a demo, or maybe more than one demo, showing just how the music was created or what ideas that influenced the lyrics might be.
These releases will happen on the full moon every month, so just look at the sky and check when the moon is getting bigger and you'll know there's something new to come.
It will also be possible to give feedback on what may interest you.
Here's what you get:
- All new music Streamed instantly to your mobile device via the free Bandcamp app, and also available as a high-quality download.*
- These subscriber-only versions:
- A 15% discount on all Peter's merchandise.
- The satisfaction of knowing you are supporting it sustainably.
On December 8, Peter posted this video:
... accompanied by this text:
«Another Full Moon is upon us and so here we are again with a little update from our West of England music satellite called Real World.
It's strange to think that only a month ago i/o The Tour was announced. What a crazy week it's been! Thank you so much to everyone who has purchased tickets so far. We hope the pre-order window present here made it easier for you than it otherwise would have been. We know that many of you want to know the details of the North American tour, which will be revealed in the new year.
In the UK and European tour news you may have noticed that Peter will be playing new music on his upcoming live dates, so this month we thought you might like a little sneak peek…
For now it's just a taste, we know, but as Peter says, "I've basically got an album ready", so there will be more news soon. In fact, as there are a few holidays looming, the next Full Moon will be among us before we know it, and who knows what that might bring?
In case there is no other occasion, we wish you all a wonderful holiday time. On to 2023!»
On November 8, he announced i/o The Tour, hinting at the arrival of the new album, but without anticipating possible release dates:
Peter Gabriel: “i/o The Tour” in Italy in Verona and Milan on May 20 and 21 – TICKETS
The previous clue, almost a confirmation, had arrived on November 4, with these posts on social media:
A few days earlier, Gabriel told ABC Audio: "It's nearing completion. I'm running out of things. So, there should be ... some news soon."
On June 4, 2022, Manu Katche,Asked by the French newspaper Ouest-France about what he is working on, he replied: "At the end of the year I will release a new album with Peter Gabriel and in 2023 we will tour the US and Europe. I will also record a new album and release a book - with [French publishing house] Éditions Grasset, which will be introspective." .
Here is Peter's latest Facebook post dated October 30, 2021:
On October 21, in Milan, Peter revealed new details:
Ipse Dixit: Peter Gabriel speaks in Milan for his daughter Anna's photo book - VIDEO
A precedent was the interview with UNCUT Magazine, dated July 16, 2020:
HR Press Review: Peter Gabriel talks about new album on UNCUT Magazine - HERE'S WHAT HE SAID
Earlier, in a June 16, 2020 interview with the BBC, had declared:
«As far as music is concerned, I haven't had as much time as I usually do, which is not as before. But there have been some news. There is a COVID song - well, there is a COVID lyrics, actually -. I have been asked to write something and it will probably turn into a song. So there are songs and pieces that go in the right direction ». (Interview by Matt Everitt).
In March 2020 Peter had written to a newspaper giving another indication of his compositional activity, although very slowly.
The site genesis-news.com had signaled Peter Gabriel's reaction to a Times article (see Matt LeDonne's image taken from genesis-news.com).
Peter has thus revealed that he is working on a new song on aging, called "So Much".
In an article of March 6, the newspaper The Times reported Phil Collins' words: "Rock old men should talk about their generation."
Peter took pen and paper and replied that he is working on one "song about aging" called "So Much".
The author of the Times article posted it on Twitter, confirming that it was Peter who replied.
In an interview with BBC Radio 6 Music in April 2019, Peter had talked about new songs and the album:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0003zly
In the winter of 2018 Peter published this post on Facebook:
Again fueling the hopes of fans.
To these indications must be added the songs that Peter only mentioned, such as "Here Comes Love?", which he spoke about on Facebook on October 28, 2014 or released in various ways and which have not yet been included in an album, such as "I'm Amazing", posted on YouTube on June 17th 2016 (read here how the song was received) and inspired by the life and battles of Muhammad Ali.
The song was followed shortly after "The Veil", arrived on 8 September 2016 (read here how the song was received). It was part of the Oliver Stone film "Snowden", but without joining the soundtrack (another indication that bode well).
At the moment the picture is complete, in the sense that some material is available to fans even if, having spent so much time, we would expect something more concrete. We'll see. If you want to stay updated on developments, subscribe to our newsletter below.
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