Album Review: Iggy Pop - Post Pop Depression

It might be labelled as an Iggy Pop record, but Post Pop Depression is a supergroup effort.

Backed by Josh Homme and Dean Fertita (Queens Of The Stone Age), as well as drummer Matt Helders (Arctic Monkeys), the godfather of punk lets them take him in plenty of unexpected directions, and it pays off a lot more often than not. Homme's desert dirge influence is clear on opening track Break Into Your Heart, while the haunting, driving bass of American Valhalla lets Pop camp it up and indulge in some horror storytelling that would be corny in the hands of almost anyone else.

While there's plenty of variation in the music and arrangements, from rock, to pop, to dance beats and disco grooves given a Homme twist, the most consistent and most surprising sound of Post Pop Depression comes down to the singer's voice. Pop delivers everything with a new wave gravitas that ties all of these disparate musical elements together into a coherent whole. Even Vulture, sounding like it's straight off a Sergio Leoni spaghetti western soundtrack, is delivered with such conviction, it immediately surpasses novelty or cliche, and only grows in authenticity.

It seems like Homme is yet to find a collaboration he's said no to. And on Post Pop Depression, he knows his role and plays it perfectly. You can hear him pushing Iggy Pop in all sorts of new and interesting directions. But the ingenuity never overshadows the bloke with his name on the album cover.