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"The Court"
"The Court"
Single by Peter Gabriel
from the album I/O
Released	5 February 2023 (dark-side mix); 20 February 2023 (bright-side and in-side mixes);
Studio	Real World (Wiltshire); The Beehive (London); British Grove (London);
Length	4:20
Label	Real World; EMI (UK/Japan); Republic (United States/Canada);
Songwriter(s)	Peter Gabriel
Producer(s)	Peter Gabriel
Peter Gabriel singles chronology

"The Court" is a song by English musician Peter Gabriel. A version of the song mixed by Tchad Blake, titled the "Dark-Side Mix", was released on 5 February 2023.^[1] It was the second single released from I/O and reached number 59 on the UK Singles Downloads Chart. Much like "Panopticom", the single's release date was chosen to coincide with a full moon.^[2] Versions of the song entitled the "Bright-Side Mix" (done by Mark "Spike" Stent) and the "In-Side Mix"(completed by Hans-Martin Buff) were later released.^[3]

Background

The song's "free-form, impressionistic lyric that connected to justice" concerns the balance between the necessity of the legal system and the abuse of power that happens within it.^[4] The song was partially inspired by the work of NAMATI, a charity "dedicated to putting the power of law in the hands of people."^[2] Over 150 tracks were required to complete the song; for certain instruments on the dark-side mix, Blake panned the delay to the right channel and reverb to the left channel. A Space Echo plug-in was also utilized to spread some of the audio across both channels.^[5] John Metcalfe and Gabriel came up with the song's orchestral arrangements, which were recorded at British Grove Studios using many members from the New Blood Orchestra.^[6]

The single's cover art features the photograph "Lifting the Curse" by Tim Shaw, who created the artwork as a response to a "curse" levied by artists Gilbert & George on the Royal Academy of Arts after the institution refused to showcase their work.^[7] Gabriel commented that "This particular image has an unusual story attached, but I just responded to the photograph of this very strange figure that was being ritualistically burnt. The story behind it, I only discovered afterwards."^[6]

For the song's music video, Gabriel worked with Stability AI to launch the Diffuse Together competition allowing people to submit AI visuals that would accompany the audio of "The Court". The winner of this competition was Junie Lau, a director and production designer whose work has been featured in British Vogue.^[8] Lau utilized several AI tools, including Stable Diffusion, DreamStudio, Kaiber, Deforum, ChatGPT, Midjourney, and Dalle-2 to create the music video.^[9]

Personnel

Peter Gabriel – lead vocals, backing vocals, piano, synthesizer, rhythm programming, orchestral arrangement
Manu Katché – drums
Tony Levin – bass guitar
David Rhodes – guitar, backing vocals
Brian Eno – synthesizer, percussion
Katie May – percussion
Melanie Gabriel – backing vocals
Richard Chapell – rhythm programming

Orchestra

Orchestral arrangement and conducting: John Metcalfe
Orchestra leader: Everton Nelson
Violins: Natalia Bonner, Martin Burgess, Louisa Fuller, Richard George, Clare Hayes, Marianne Haynes, Ian Humphries, Charles Mutter, Everton Nelson, Odile Ollagnon, Cathy Thompson, Debbie Widdup
Violas: Fiona Bonds, Peter Lale, Rachel Roberts, Bruce White
Cellos: Chris Allen, Ian Burdge, Caroline Dale, William Shofield, Tony Woolard, Chris Worsey
Double bass: Chris Laurence, Lucy Shaw, Stacey Watton
Flute: Eliza Marshall
Trumpet: Andrew Crowley
Bass trombone: Richard Henry
Tenor trombone: Tracy Holloway, Andy Wood
Euphonium: Andy Wood
Tuba: David Powell