Peter Gabriel | Article | Scratch My Back: "The project is groundbreaking for two reasons. Firstly, it"s a collaboration. All the artists whose songs Peter has recorded here are returning the favour by each recording a song of his. The fruits of this exchange - or song swap - will be heard on a forthcoming companion volume, I"ll Scratch Yours. "The intention," explains Peter, "was that we would each do the songs in our own idiosyncratic way.

The project is groundbreaking for two reasons. Firstly, it's a collaboration. All the artists whose songs Peter has recorded here are returning the favour by each recording a song of his. The fruits of this exchange - or song swap - will be heard on a forthcoming companion volume, I'll Scratch Yours. "The intention," explains Peter, "was that we would each do the songs in our own idiosyncratic way."

Secondly, these songs have been approached from an angle that's rather revolutionary. Peter's usual band have been dispensed with on this project, leaving his voice accompanied solely by orchestral instruments. The approach makes for some radical reinterpretations. "After all," protests the album's arranger John Metcalfe, "what's the point of covers that don't make any effort- So many are just really the same song with a different singer. Here was an opportunity - particularly as it was orchestral - not to do that, to reinterpret these songs with integrity."

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