Four Kinds of Horses

"Four Kinds of Horses" is a song by English musician Peter Gabriel, released in May 2023 as the fifth single in promotion of his tenth studio album I/O. The track has been described by Rolling Stone as atmospheric, swirling, and sparkling. The cover artwork was done by Cornelia Parker.

Background
The song was originally conceived when the founder of XL Recordings Richard Russell asked Peter Gabriel to make a song for his project "Everything Is Recorded". While in the studio, Gabriel came up with some chords, melodies and words on top of a groove he was working on, with the help from Russell, it would eventually become "Four Kinds of Horses".

As the track developed, a couple of things would influence the track, such as the Buddhist Parable of Four Kinds of Horses, which explain how a student can approach religious and spiritual practice. The song also shows themes of the "overlap of religion and peace on the one hand and violence and terrorism on the other. There was also a film by Hany Abu-Assad called Paradise Now which shows two young men who end up being trained to become terrorists and it's a real insight into where the head goes."

The track also features Brian Eno, who worked with Gabriel on 1992's Us, composer John Metcalfe on string arrangements, and Gabriel's daughter Melanie on backing vocals.

Personnel

 * Peter Gabriel – vocals, backing vocals, piano, synths, rhythm programming, percussion
 * David Rhodes – guitars, backing vocals
 * Tony Levin – basses
 * Melanie Gabriel – backing vocals
 * Brian Eno – rhythm progressing, synthesizers, electric worms
 * Katie May – rhythm programming
 * Richard Russell – filtered percussion
 * Orchestra
 * Orchestral arrangement: John Metcalfe
 * Violins: Everton Nelson, Ian Humphries, Louisa Fuller, Charles Mutter, Cathy Thompson, Natalia Bonner, *Richard George, Marianne Haynes, Martin Burgess, Clare Hayes, Debbie Widdup, and Odile Ollagnon
 * Violas: Bruce White, Fiona Bonds, Peter Lale, and Rachel Roberts
 * Cellos: Ian Burdge, Chris Worsey, Caroline Dale, William Schofield, Tony Woollard, and Chris Allan
 * Double bass: Chris Laurence, Stacy Watton, and Lucy Shaw
 * French horn: David Pyatt
 * Tenor trombone: Andy Wood and Tracy Holloway
 * Bass trombone: Richard Henry
 * Tuba: David Powell
 * Orchestra conductor: John Metcalfe
 * Orchestra leader: Everton Nelson
 * Sheet music supervisor: Dave Foster
 * Orchestra contractor: Lucy Whalley and Susie Gillis