- 2026-05-01
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MUSIC
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Peter Gabriel Releases New Song “Won't Stand Down (Bright-Side Mix)”
British singer-songwriter Peter Gabriel released a new song “Won't Stand Down (Bright-Side Mix)” on May 1, 2026.
The song is fifth single off of his upcoming eleventh studio album “o\i”.
He has been releasing a new song with each full moon throughout 2026, leading up to the album's release in December.
Each song comes with differing interpretations in the shape of Dark-Side and Bright-Side mixes and is accompanied by a piece of art.
This month, there are two full moons. The song is the first release of two full moons.
It was written and produced by Peter Gabriel. The track features Manu Katché on drums, Abe Rounds on percussion, Tony Levin on bass, and David Rhodes on guitar.
Peter Gabriel said of the song, “It's really a song to encourage some sort of activism. I had originally thought about trying to create some music for The Elders.org, who are an extraordinary group of people. Their currency is not based on military power, economic power or political power, but just the moral authority they have from having lived extraordinary, selfless lives. That's something which I wanted to talk about, write about and encourage, because it's pretty dark out there in lots of places and I think we need people who can just nudge both us and our leaders and keep alive some basic values of justice, compassion and democracy - a hope that can help us start envisioning a just, peaceful and fairer world.”- He continued, “I think people generally respond much better to positive pictures of what’s coming than they do when they are bombarded and scared by negative ones. We are much more likely to engage if we feel hope. Right now, we don't see so many positive visions of the future, at least they're not being projected so strongly as the negative, so I think it's really important that we start looking for visions to which we can aspire and looking for people who can provide that.”
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This month’s art is called “Faith” by Shirin Neshat, who is an Iranian photographer and visual artist based in New York City.
Peter Gabriel said, “I’ve been aware of Shirin Neshat since her 90’s ‘Women of Allah’ series. Shirin is from Iran, although she might well call it Persia. Now she lives in New York. This image is very beautiful, powerful and political. Two sets of hands that, to me, represent the need to protect – to protect a positive future for our kids. That's what I get from the image, though Shirin may well have a very different intent.”
He continued, “The inscription on the hands is a quote from Rumi, who is a brilliant and inspirational 13th century Sufi mystic - very well worth checking out if you're not familiar with his writings - and apparently it means ‘give me a hand so I can be held.’ It's simple, strong and powerful.”
Photo by York Tillyer - source : Spotify
