Gannon Knight ArtsLeisure

     Former Genesis vocalist Peter Gabriel released “Scratch My Back,” Feb. 16, an album kicking off his music exchange project.
     “Scratch My Back” features 12 covers of music by artists who have covered Gabriel’s songs. Original artists featured include such greats as David Bowie, Paul Simon, Radiohead and Regina Spektor.
     “I’ll Scratch Yours,” the second installment in the project, will be released later this year and will showcase Gabriel’s songs that have been covered by these artists.
     Another unique aspect of “Scratch My Back” is that traditional rock instruments – guitars and drums – are not used. Instead, Gabriel relies on his voice and orchestra instruments, such as pianos, violins, cellos, trumpets and flutes. In most songs, Gabriel rises to the challenge of carrying the beat of a song without drums.
     The album begins with “Heroes,” a David Bowie cover. The track begins with a light melody that gradually increases throughout the course of the song. While the lyrics of the song are familiar, from Bowie’s original song and perhaps even from the medley version featured in the film “Moulin Rouge,” Gabriel’s rendition stands apart from both, due in part to the slower, more fluid feel of the song; this, along with the Gabriel’s easily recognizable emotion, puts a definite emphasis on the lyrics and their meaning.
     According to a podcast on his Web site, Gabriel chose this Bowie song to cover because it illustrated the melodic side of Bowie he liked; he also said he was fond of the theme of heroism in the face of oppression. This song is now being used on Music for Relief’s compilation CD to raise money for Haiti.
     Gabriel cited the second track, Simon’s “The Boy in the Bubble,” as one of his favorite songs. He even went as far to say that the lyrics were some of the best pop lyrics written in the past 20 years, despite the melancholy story told: “There was a bright light/ A shattering of shop windows/The bomb in the baby carriage / Was wired to the radio.”
     As with “Heroes,” this song focuses a great deal on the lyrics, with most of the song being sung over only light instrumentation; a simple piano tune repeats throughout the song without seeming monotonous, which is impressive considering the replicated lyrics and the song’s simplicity.
     “Flume,” the album’s fourth song, is mediocre in comparison to the rest of the CD. Gabriel’s ability to capture a song and recreate it falters with “Flume.” Perhaps it is because Gabriel is singing by himself and the song lacks the dimension that Bon Iver’s version has. Gabriel still creates an enjoyable listen, but not in comparison to Bon Iver. It’s best not to listen to both of the songs back-to-back.
     Another bright spot on the CD is track 10, a cover of Spektor’s “Après moi.” Though replicating Spektor’s unarguably unique vocal stylings would be nearly impossible, Gabriel’s voice is slightly reminiscent of Spektor’s and his intensity matches hers perfectly.
     The track begins with a large brass buildup that gives way to a delicate set of strings which carry the rest of the song – the lack of drums is hardly noticeable in “Après moi,” which is just as much of a gem when sung by Gabriel as it is by Spektor.
     “Scratch My Back” proves itself to be a promising start to Gabriel’s music swapping project. Though it may take multiple listens to appreciate the music, it’s worth the time. Many of Gabriel’s songs seem even more impressive when listened to after the original version – the instrumentation becomes much more obvious.
     Though Gabriel’s rendition of these popular songs differs greatly from their original states without the use of typical instruments, the relaxing album is without a doubt worth a listen.