For his first studio album since 2002's Up, Peter Gabriel has covered some of his favorite artists in what he has described as the first installment of a very personal, "grown-up record," an album recorded only with orchestral instruments and voice.
It is titled Scratch My Back because when he picked a song, he also asked the "songwriter to record a Gabriel song in turn. The original plan was to release two albums in tandem. The songwriters agreed - except for David Bowie, whose collaborator on 'Heroes,' Brian Eno, will participate - but the deadlines came and went. 'We may not get everybody, but I hope we will.'"
Rather than make a "traditional covers record, I thought it would be much more fun to create a new type of project in which artists communicated with each other and swapped a song for a song, i.e. you do one of mine and I'll do one of yours, hence the titles - Scratch My Back and I'll Scratch Yours. Although, at first, I hoped to have the companion record out at the same time, it became clear it would take a while longer pulling in the second record with all the other artists. This will come later."
Scratch My Back tracklisting:
1. "Heroes" (David Bowie)
2. "The Boy in the Bubble" (Paul Simon)
3. "Mirrorball" (Elbow)
4. "Flume" (Bon Iver)
5. "Listening Wind" (Talking Heads)
6. "The Power of the Heart" (Lou Reed)
7. "My Body Is a Cage" (Arcade Fire)
8. "The Book of Love" (The Magnetic Fields)
9. "I Think It's Going to Rain Today" (Randy Newman)
10. "Après moi" (Regina Spektor)
11. "Philadelphia" (Neil Young)
12. "Street Spirit (Fade Out)" (Radiohead)
Quotes: nytimes.com & petergabriel.com
