Peter Gabriel: 'Scratch My Back'

With some noticeable exceptions aside (such as the late Johnny Cash’s American series and Nouvelle Vague) cover albums are rarely anything to get excited about. Either we are dealing with the latest X Factor / American idol contestant; or it is a sign that the artist in question has finally reached the end of their creative peak.

However, the artist in question, Peter Gabriel, is no ordinary artist. He has always been one for embracing experimentation and new ideas musically; whether that be
pioneering digital distribution methods, setting up World Music concerts, or flamboyantly fronting a prog-rock group. Whatever he does it is certainly not done by halves.

Gabriel’s latest release ‘Scratch My Back’, incidentally his first in seven years, is a “swap shop of songs”. He has taken twelve songs from artists which are either; friends, admirers or personal favorites of his own, stripped them bare, and reinterpreted them into orchestrated arrangements with the sole emphasis placed upon vocals. In return, the artists Gabriel covered will return the favour by covering a track of his on a later album this year aptly titled ‘I’ll Scratch Yours’. In addition each single (containing both tracks) will be released on each full moon. If all else fail, Peter Gabriel now has the distinct pleasure of having his own songs interpreted by the likes of David Bowie, Talking Heads, Radiohead, and Lou Reed to name a few.

One listen to Gabriel’s recent cover of Vampire Weekends ‘’ along with Hot Chip demonstrate how carefully he chooses his music. The album splits between old artists such as Paul Simon, David Bowie and Lou Reed; to the more contemporary; Arcade Fire, Bon Iver, and Elbow. To cover such artists alone is a brave move. To focus solely upon vocals seems almost madness

In all honesty, it is probably best to spend a few days before listening to this release to fully re-visit (or visit for the first time in some cases) the original songs before fully immersing oneself into this album and even then it is not going to be an easy listen.

As mentioned the vocals are at the forefront accompanied by an orchestra predominately focusing upon strings and piano. The hope was to focus on emotions and reveal the lyrical content of the songs and to force creativity under such restrictions. Therefore much of whether one likes this album will rest upon whether you like Gabriel’s voice or not. There is no doubt he has the voice to carry off such an album on this somber and sorrowful album. The vocals range from fragile to powerful and the arrangements almost give the impression these songs are scored for a movie.

The best word to describe this album is interesting. It could be great background music yet it demands attention to be fully appreciated. The trouble is, it’s rather demanding to get through this album in one sitting. Probably the best song on here is the cover of Paul Simon’s ‘Boy in the Bubble’ which takes the African inspired pop song and reveals the emotion contained within not conveyed by Simon himself. Covers such as Bowie’s ‘Heroes’ and Radiohead’s ‘Street Spirit (Fade Out)’ are certainly intriguing but add nothing new to the originals. As a broad generalisation, Gabriel fairs better with the new material than the old.

Gabriel has certainly released something to invest time listening to, yet it will probably receive polarizing opinions. As a music fan to hear a great artist cover other great artists is always a pleasure to here. I just wonder how well the public will respond to such an offering.