Panopticom (Bright-Side Mix) by Peter Gabriel, released on the full moon 6 January 2023. This is the first song to be revealed from the album i/o.
The Bright-Side Mix is by Mark 'Spike' Stent and the track is accompanied by a cover image by the artist David Spriggs.
Written and produced by Peter Gabriel, Panopticom was recorded at Real World Studios in Wiltshire and The Beehive in London.
‘The first song is based on an idea I have been working on to initiate the creation of an infinitely expandable accessible data globe: The Panopticom,’ says Gabriel. ‘We are beginning to connect a like-minded group of people who might be able to bring this to life, to allow the world to see itself better and understand more of what’s really going on.’
Musically Panopticom drives along powered by the engine-room of long-time collaborators Tony Levin, David Rhodes and Manu Katché, underpinned by haunting electronics from Brian Eno. Additional backing vocals from Ríoghnach Connolly of The Breath. The lyric is, in part, inspired by the extraordinary work of three groups, Forensic Architecture, Bellingcat and the Gabriel co-founded pioneering human rights organisation WITNESS.
The release of Panopticom on the full moon is no coincidence and in true Gabriel fashion the approach for i/o will be a little different from the norm. The lunar phases will guide the release plan in 2023, with a new song revealed each full moon.
‘Some of what I’m writing about this time is the idea that we seem incredibly capable of destroying the planet that gave us birth and that unless we find ways to reconnect ourselves to nature and to the natural world we are going to lose a lot. A simple way of thinking about where we fit in to all of this is looking up at the sky… and the moon has always drawn me to it.’
Each new release of music will come with a specific piece of art, ‘we’ve been looking at the work of many hundreds of artists,’ says Gabriel, and Panopticom features the work ‘Red Gravity’ by David Spriggs.
‘It was the theme of surveillance that connected me with the work of David Spriggs because he’d done a piece relating to that. David does this amazing stuff using many layers of transparencies so you get these strange creations with a real intensity to them. Part of what he does is imagine what art might look like a few years in the future and then try and create accordingly and I think he’s done that very successfully in this particular piece.’
David Spriggs -
davidspriggs.art/ Forensic Architecture -
forensic-architecture.org/ Bellingcat - bellingcat.com
WITNESS - Witness.org
@Mr121953
5 months ago
21 years is a long time to wait for any new release and Peter Gabriel has never been one to burden the public with anything but sheer quality . He takes his time and when his albums are finally on the open market you realise why . His last great album of pure orginal songs was way back in 2002 with UP ' and even then that was a collection of songs that he had first recorded for the 'US' solo project in 1993. Everything he has ever done since 1977 has been so original and unique - He is someone very special who stands tall in the music world . 'SO' back in 1986 was a real game changer and made him a very wealthy man , he is very lucky in that because of his wealth ( 2023 estimated to be around £189 million ) he doesn't have to 'cow tow' to the macinations of the record industry . He is important for so many reasons , his work with 'WOMAD and 'world music' bringng artists to the fore for whom other wise wouldn't be heard , his studio in Bath , his record label 'Real World ' and his ongong activity for many political issues around the world . He does appear to be 'one of the good guys ' in our convoluted mixed up world . His fan base around the world is massive he still continues to tour and his shows are always very special . His musical peers are small in number ( they know who they are ) and 'can't hold a candle to his creativity' , there was one but sadly he died in 2016 ( R.I.P Starman) - For me he is one fo the greats and now at the age of 73 he is still relevant and still very important . Thanks Peter for the decades , for the soundtrack to my adult life and with a nod to early Genesis " Me I'm an electric lawnmower , you can me tell by the way I walk "- I will sign off .- NB 'The Lamb Lies Down On Bradway ' is still one greatest prog albums ever recorded !
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