Peter Gabriel - Scratch My Back

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Covers albums by ageing stars tend to ring alarm bells, unless it's someone as unpredictable and as meticulous about his art as Peter Gabriel.

His approach here is to let the wide-ranging choice of songs speak for themselves by using simple orchestral settings – or just piano and cello for Paul Simon's Boy in the Bubble (giving the lyrics the space they deserve) and Bon Iver's Flume.

This is an album full of gorgeous textures, and Gabriel coaxing the full spectrum of meaning and emotion out of the lyrics, even turning the detachment of Lou Reed's The Power of the Heart into something touching.

He brings in the full orchestra for songs by Elbow, the Magnetic Fields and Regina Spektor, and also canvasses Bowie (Heroes as a chamber music piece) Randy Newman, Talking Heads, Arcade Fire and Neil Young.

This is as good, and as important, as anything he's done.

Best tracks: Listening Wind, Apres Moi.

- © Fairfax NZ News