Everything Is Recorded – Richard Russell’s ever-evolving collaborative artist project – today announces ‘Beyond The Brilliant Haze‘, a new single featuring Maryland rapper .idk. and legendary British musician Peter Gabriel, released 24 June via XL Recordings.
A striking departure from the spectral folk and soul that defined Everything Is Recorded’s acclaimed 2025 album Temporary (Disco Pogo’s album of the year), ‘Beyond The Brilliant Haze’ is a unique meeting of minds, and a juxtaposition by design. Mixed – at Peter Gabriel’s request – by Mike Elizondo, the Dr. Dre protégé and Grammy-winning producer and songwriter behind records including 50 Cent’s ‘In Da Club’ and Eminem’s ‘The Real Slim Shady,’ the track positions three artists from different worlds into something genuinely unexpected.
The collaboration extends a working relationship between Russell and Gabriel: Russell co-produced ‘Four Kinds of Horses‘ for Gabriel’s 2023 i/o album, the artist’s first UK No.1 in over 30 years. Meanwhile, .idk. – born Jason Mills, raised in Camp Springs, Maryland and described by Forbes as “the polymath of rap” – has long operated at the most adventurous edges of US rap. From the off-kilter maximalism of 2019’s Is He Real? to the soulful sweep of 2021’s USEE4YOURSELF, and most recently the raw mixtape E.T.D.S. (Even The Devil Smiles), .idk. is a fellow prolific innovator, having collaborated with the likes of Tyler, The Creator, Pusha T, Pharrell and KAYTRANADA among others. All three artists have built reputations for bold, shapeshifting work that resists easy categorisation.
“I grew up listening to Peter and was honoured to work with him on i/o and my own music and, after I’d immersed myself in making Temporary, still had some ideas for us that I was keen to pursue. Jason brought an incredible energy to the whole thing. Everything – including Peter’s suggestion to have Mike mix it – just fell into place at the right time” – Richard Russell
“Working with Peter and Richard was a complete honour. I was honoured to hear back from Richard, and even more surprised when the record he sent involved Peter. But I’ve been working long enough at what I do to know that, even though it was a surprise, I was prepared to bring the best parts of myself to it. The result feels like a beautiful mess of juxtaposition.” – .idk.
Peter Gabriel needs little introduction. One of the most singular and influential figures in British music, his solo catalogue has shaped the sound of popular music for five decades. Founder of WOMAD and Real World Records, a tireless human rights campaigner, twice inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and recipient of the Polar Music Prize among countless other honours, Gabriel’s willingness to push into unexpected creative territory remains as pronounced now as ever.
“Following the writing sessions I did with Richard for his Everything is Recorded project there were some ideas that didn’t make it that we both thought were still worth exploring. Richard sent me some stuff he had worked on and I re-wrote the section I had originally come up with for the melodic part of the song. I always like it when people fuse disparate elements together, which Richard has been doing a lot in his own work, and bringing .idk. in on this was an inspired choice and provided some strong musical contrasts for the song. I’m happy to see this work finally heading out into the world.” – Peter Gabriel
Everything Is Recorded’s Richard Russell – the acclaimed producer whose credits include Gil Scott-Heron, Bobby Womack, Damon Albarn, Ibeyi and Mary In The Junkyard – has, across three Everything Is Recorded albums, the subsequent Solstice Equinox sessions and 2025’s No Ends No Beginnings EP, built a body of work defined by its fearlessness in assembling the unlikely. ‘Beyond The Brilliant Haze’ extends that instinct.