Music review: Iggy Pop – ‘Post Pop Depression鈥�
Iggy Pop鈥檚 engaging collaboration with Josh Homme of Queens of the Stone Age pairs the godfather of punk with one of contemporary rock鈥檚 visionaries, resulting in nine tracks that may serve as Pop鈥檚 final musical statement.
The 68-year-old proto-punk icon has stated 鈥淧ost Pop Depression鈥� could indeed be the last album of his celebrated career.
On a majority of the new tracks, Pop channels David Bowie and the duo鈥檚 successful partnership in Germany during the late 1970s. During the Berlin period, Bowie would release 鈥淗eroes,鈥濃�滾ow鈥� and 鈥淟odger,鈥� while Pop would deliver two of his finest solo efforts with 鈥淭he Idiot鈥� and 鈥淟ust for Life.鈥� Influenced by Bowie鈥檚 experimental vision, Pop鈥檚 career was resurrected after he departed the legendary Stooges.
On the track 鈥淕erman Days,鈥� Pop and Homme construct a nostalgic look back at this creative and volatile period when both Pop and Bowie fed off each other鈥檚 creative energies both musically and socially.
With Pop鈥檚 weathered and worn baritone vocals and Homme on guitar, bass and backing vocals, the two are joined by Dean Fertita (Queens of the Stone Age) on guitar and Matt Helders (Arctic Monkeys) on drums.
鈥淏reak Into Your Heart鈥� opens the album by detailing a flawed and unusual courtship with Pop announcing, 鈥淚鈥檓 gonna break into your heart/And follow till I see where you begin.鈥� While initially coming off as creepy, the song鈥檚 deeper meaning reveals a more vulnerable message of wanting to steal the love and affection of someone at the most intimate level.
Fueled by a hypnotic, thumping bass, 鈥淕ardenia鈥� is a seedy love song that manages to be both disturbing and beautiful at the same time.
鈥淰ulture鈥� showcases a dark acoustic track that ominously reminds us about the abundance of scavengers in the world, always waiting and willing to feed off the weak.
A sense of finality is heard on 鈥淎merican Valhalla鈥� as Pop faces his own mortality and reflects on the aftermath of his personal battles by singing, 鈥淚鈥檝e nothing but my name.鈥�
鈥淧araguay鈥� draws the final curtain with Pop waxing poetic in his own way with a profanity-laced swan song that has Pop going out on his own terms by declaring, 鈥淚 wanna be your basic clod/Who made good/And went away while he could/To somewhere where people are still human beings.鈥�
If Pop intends to walk away from it all, it is only fitting he does it with the same gritty, uncompromising swagger he first flashed the world back some 47 years ago.
Clint Rhodes is the 缅北禁地 music reviewer. He can be reached at crhodes@heraldstandard.com.