Peter Gabriel, English rock music legend and human rights champion who's best-known for his anti-apartheid anthem, 'Biko', has been dropping, according to 'Variety', new songs with each full moon this year.

The latest one sees not only the arrival of a new song from his forthcoming album 'i/o' - 'Playing for Time', but also provides details of his first full North American tour in many years.

Produced by Live Nation, the newly announced dates will find Peter Gabriel performing in Quebec City, Ottawa, Toronto, Montreal, Boston, Philadelphia, New York, Chicago, Vancouver, Seattle, San Francisco and Los Angeles, notes 'Variety'.

The announcement adds: "Fans should also stay tuned for future tour date announcements in Washington, Buffalo, Pittsburgh, Columbus, Cleveland, Detroit, Milwaukee, St Paul, Denver, Austin, Dallas and Houston."

'i/o - The Tour' will see Gabriel accompanied by his longtime bandmates Tony Levin, David Rhodes and French drummer Manu Katche.

The new single, written and produced by Gabriel, was recorded at his Real World Studios in Wiltshire and The Beehive in London, and features Tom Cawley on piano. The orchestral arrangement, by Ed Shearmur, was recorded at British Grove Studios in London.

In a note on it, reproduced by 'Variety', Gabriel writes: "Playing For Time is a song that I have been working on for a long time and have performed live, without lyrics, so some people may be familiar with it. It's been an important song for me. It's about time, mortality and memories and the idea that each of us has a planet full of memories which get stashed inside the brain.

"It is more of a personal song about how you assemble memories and whether we are prisoners of time or whether that is something that can actually free us. I do think it's good to push yourself towards more bold or interesting experiences because then you will have richer memories to feed you when you get to my age. You also get taught by every meaningful experience that you go through."