Oude vrienden Tony Levin, David Rhodes en Manu Katché werkten mee aan Panopticom. Verder ondersteunen de spookachtige elektronica van Brian Eno en de backings van Ríoghnach Connolly (The Breath) het nummer.
Het thema van Panopticom is gebaseerd op Gabriels idee voor de creatie van een oneindige database die voor iedereen toegankelijk is: “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. 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”, aldus Peter Gabriel.
Peter Gabriel speelt op maandag 5 juni in Ziggo Dome, Amsterdam.
“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.”
“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.”