Remember when we told you about that Peter Gabriel project where he’d be doing cover songs of bands like Radiohead and Bon Iver? Of course you do, and you’ve spent the entire time since then waiting with bated breath to find out some more details. Well, we’re happy to pass those along, via our friends and yours at NME and Pitchfork. And, oh boy, is this going to be a doozy.

The album, Scratch My Back, is being dubbed a “song-swap project”. What that means is that Gabriel will tackle those aforementioned acts plus a few more, including David Bowie, Arcade Fire, Regina Spektor, Lou Reed, and The Talking Heads. Shockingly enough, however, Vampire Weekend did not make the cut.

So, what’s the catch? Rather than straight covers, the 12-track album is going to be orchestral versions of this cornucopia of musical goodness.

“The songs are not simply covers,” the album’s composer John Metcalfe told the BBC. “They are major reinterpretations of some famous stuff. It’s quite radical …”

But wait, there’s more. According to The Guardian, Scratch My Back is the first  release in what will become a “song-swap” project, where, ultimately, the singer and a host of “extremely legendary artists” will cover each other’s material. So, sometime after Scratch My Back‘s January 25th release date, expect another album — where some of the artists covered on Gabriel’s album turn the table and cover his material. Exciting to say the least.

Scratch My Back is out January 25th, 2010.

Scratch My Back tracklist:
01. Heroes (David Bowie cover)
02. The Boy in the Bubble (Paul Simon cover)
03. Mirrorball (Elbow cover)
04. Flume (Bon Iver cover)
05. Listening Wind (Talking Heads cover)
06. The Power of the Heart (Lou Reed cover)
07. My Body Is a Cage (Arcade Fire cover)
08. The Book of Love (Magnetic Fields cover)
09. I Think It’s Going to Rain Today (Randy Newman cover)
10. Après Moi (Regina Spektor cover)
11. Philadelphia (Neil Young cover)
12. Street Spirit (Radiohead cover)