In case you haven’t heard, Peter Gabriel will play it safe on his next studio release, choosing to please even the most cynical of hipsters by covering the likes of Arcade Fire, Radiohead, David Bowie, The Magnetic Fields and adhering to the biggest musical purists by putting an orchestral twist on the renditions. Today, Stereogum debuted one such selection from the forthcoming Scratch My Back — a cover of Arcade Fire’s “My Body Is A Cage”.

“It took me awhile to really get what [Arcade Fire] were doing, and I think sometimes that’s a sign of quality … I love this [song] title. I have no idea what Win was writing about here,” Gabriel said of his selection. “Whatever they were talking about, for me, I got this picture of The Diving Bell And The Butterfly, and it also made me think about relationship moments when you feel totally unable to go into your body properly, and you feel trapped inside and you can’t communicate the way you need to….”

Given such a nature, Gabriel chose to be creative. “It’s the only use of the choir on the record, but I think it’s quite a moody color coming in at the end. But it’s a great piece of writing, and I am now a firm Arcade Fire fan, and this was a great way to get to know their work,” he noted. The end result is a selection that proves to be dark and mysterious, almost Gothic-like, yet wonderfully brilliant and captivating.

Interested parties can check it out at Stereogum. You can also learn more about the release by checking out Gabriel’s recent interview in this podcast.

In equally awesome news, Gabriel has announced a few more dates in support of release, these scheduled for New York and Los Angeles this May. The musician will be joined by an orchestra for all dates.

Peter Gabriel 2010 Tour Dates:
03/22 – Paris @ Bercy
03/24 – Berlin, DE @ O2
03/25 – Berlin, DE @ O2
03/27 – London, UK @ O2 Arena
03/28 – London, UK @ O2 Arena
04/28 – Montreal @ Bell Centre
05/02 – New York, NY @ Radio City Music Hall
05/03 – New York, NY @ Radio City Music Hall
05/07 – Los Angeles, CA @ Hollywood Bowl