Peter Gabriel Unveils ‘Dark-Side’ Version of New Single “The Court”

Peter Gabriel has released the Dark-Side remix of his new single, “The Court,” the second offering from his upcoming tenth album, i/o.

“I had this idea for ‘the court will rise’ chorus, so it became a free-form, impressionistic lyric that connected to justice, but there’s a sense of urgency there,” said Gabriel in a video breaking down the track. “A lot of life is a struggle between order and chaos, and in some senses, the justice or legal system is something that we impose to try and bring some element of order to the chaos.”

Gabriel added, “That’s often abused, it’s often unfair and discriminatory, but at the same time, it’s probably an essential part of a civilized society. But we do need to think sometimes about how that is actually realized and employed.”

“The Court” follows Gabriel’s first i/o single, “Panopticom,” which he revealed in January 2023. His first original release since “The Veil” in 2016, the Dark-Side remix of “Panopticom” features Brian Eno on synth, David Rhodes on guitar, Tony Levin on bass, and Manu Katché on drums.

The new album is also Gabriel’s first full-length release since New Blood in 2009, and each single will be shared in correlation with the lunar cycle.

Splitting the songs into a Dark-Side and a Bright-Side, the songs will vary in sound, based on specific mixes by engineers Tchad Blake and Mark ‘Spike’ Stent. Blake has crafted the Dark-Side, along with Stent’s Bright-Side versions.

“Rather than choosing only one of their mixes to release, I have decided that people should be able to hear all the great work that they are both doing,” said Gabriel in an earlier post. “Whether you hear the ‘Bright-Side’ or the ‘Dark-Side’ first will vary each full moon, depending on the order we decide to release them. I know this amount of detail is not for everyone, but I hope those that are into their music production will enjoy their different interpretations.”

In 2023, Gabriel will also embark on an upcoming tour of 22 shows across the U.K. and Europe, which will start on May 18 in Krakow, Poland, and conclude in Dublin, Ireland on June 23.

Photo: Kevin Mazur/WireImage for Live Nation