Peter Gabriel Covers Arcade Fire, Radiohead, Neil Young On New Album

11/02/09 2:31pm

by Kate Harper (CHARTattack)

Peter Gabriel will release a covers album titled Scratch My Back sometime next year.

The disc, which doesn't yet have a release date, features orchestral "reinterpretations" of songs by the likes of Arcade Fire, Radiohead, David Bowie, Talking Heads, The Kinks, Lou Reed and others. (No, there aren't any Vampire Weekend songs on it.) Nice to see Gabriel's not letting his Phil Collins connection rub off on him and affect his musical taste.

According to John Metcalfe, one of the collaborators on the album, Scratch My Back also features other "extremely legendary artists" covering each other's songs. Metcalfe describes the album, which was recorded with producer Bob Ezrin (Pink Floyd) in London, England this summer, as a "song swap."

"I'm not allowed to say who, just yet, but there are some very, very famous singers and bands involved," Metcalfe told BBC Radio's 6music.

"It sounds amazing, even though I say it myself," Metcalfe said. "It is literally Peter with an orchestra, sometimes the orchestra is quite large, then there are some more chamber music-style, sparse songs.

"But the songs are not simply covers, they are quite major reinterpretations of some famous stuff. It's quite radical and we're hoping that people really get it and enjoy it."

Gabriel's last studio album was 2002's Up.

Here are the songs on Scratch My Back (with original performers in parentheses):

"Heroes" (David Bowie)
"Street Spirit (Fade Out)" (Radiohead)
"The Book Of Love" (Magnetic Fields)
"Flume" (Bon Iver)
"My Body Is A Cage" (Arcade Fire)
"Listening Wind" (Talking Heads)
"I Think It's Going To Rain Today" (Randy Newman)
"Apres Moi" (Regina Spektor/Eartha Kitt)
"Waterloo Sunset" (The Kinks)
"The Boy In The Bubble" (Paul Simon)
"The Power Of The Heart" (Lou Reed)
"Philadelphia" (Neil Young)
"Mirrorball" (Elbow)