Free
It’s not as if Iggy Pop has ever really needed to prove anything. If 2016’s *Post Pop Depression*—which he made with Queens of the Stone Age’s Josh Homme and Dean Fertita, and Arctic Monkeys’ Matt Helders—showed that he could still cause a ruckus, *Free* shows he’s still more than capable of keeping his audience on its toes. Iggy has always attempted to strike this balance between music for the body and music for the mind: As far back as The Stooges’ first albums in the late ’60s and early ’70s, a meditative raga like “We Will Fall” would counter the scrappy, visceral force of “No Fun,” or a track like “Fun House” would tack left with Ornette Coleman-inspired saxophone runs. *Free* finds him tapping those exploratory instincts even more deeply. “I wanna be free,” he says with a matter-of-fact inflection as a cinematic trumpet glistens over the moody, beat-less composition that opens the 72-year-old artist\'s 18th solo studio LP. That title track clearly sets the album\'s goalposts—or lack thereof. With the assistance of co-producers and collaborators Leron Thomas and Noveller, Iggy experiments with all kinds of new depths, playing with jazz, rock, electronics, dissonance, poetry, and even a little of the camp he embraced on 2012\'s *Après*, his collection of loungey pop interpretations. “Sonali,” one of *Free*\'s most robust, complex songs, juggles atmospheric synth notes with some inhumanly quick, off-kilter drums while Iggy softly croons lyrics that would almost sound like a stream of consciousness were it not for the fun images that emerge from his linguistic puzzles. (Enjoy untangling “To park the car, we must find parking/Or spend the day on the freeway/Stay in your lane/It\'s what you want/And yes, I approve/\'Cause if I run out of gas/You\'ll be my excuse.\") Though tracks like “Glow in the Dark” and “We Are the People” keep the arrangements to a minimum, there’s an incandescence to Iggy’s performance that’s full of energy—a spark of giddy excitement, as if he’s asking, “What’ll happen if I turn *this* knob? Say it *this* way?” It’s all a lead-up to his fantastic recitation of Dylan Thomas’ “Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night.” For someone who kicked off punk five decades earlier, and who has hardly let up for a moment in the intervening years, the line “Old age should burn and rave at close of day” basically belongs to him now.
On his meditative collaboration with the ambient guitarist Noveller and jazz trumpeter Leron Thomas, Iggy Pop turns inward.
Iggy's 18th solo album sees the rock'n'roll icon take control of his legacy with a contemplative and liberating collection
On his last solo album in 2016, Iggy Pop got closest to his cartoon image as punk pioneer, best known shirtless and howling over primitive riffs in the early Seventies. Post Pop Depression, recorded with members of a younger generation of raw rockers — Queens of the Stone Age and Arctic Monkeys — earned him his highest chart places ever. However, such belated success has sent the 72-year-old sprinting somewhere else entirely. This 18th release is certainly a strange one.
MUNA’s second album should see them join the ranks of the pop stars who brazenly borrow their sound, Iggy Pop mixes his traditional rock with spoken word, and Chrissie Hynde’s collection of jazz standards shows an artist still keen to challenge herself
Similarly, a half-century on from the first Stooges album, Iggy Pop has made it clear he's not as in love with rock & roll as he once was.
A short-stay record that ultimately fails to explore new territory, Iggy Pop's eighteenth record is one for the hardcore fans only.
Exploring the concept of personal freedom in a manner that's direct and musically sparse, Iggy Pop is reflective and resolute on his compell...
Iggy Pop’s follow up to 2016’s Post Pop Depression is proof that the Godfather of Punk still has some tricks up his sleeve.
Iggy Pop once said he likes his music offensive and has certainly spent the better part of his career doing just that. Now as a septuagenarian, the proto punk has made one of the year’s most surprising and likable albums in Free.
Iggy Pop has very little left to prove. The 72-year-old is one of rock and roll’s true protagonists, a feat which cannot be said of many.
Free may share a melancholy and self-referential spirit with some of Iggy Pop's best work, but it’s a grab bag of incomplete ideas grasping for cohesion.
'Free' by Iggy Pop, album review by Leslie Chu. The singer/songwriter's eigteenth studio album, comes out on September 6th via Loma Vista Recordings
This strange patchwork of jazz, poetry, ambience, lamentable lyrics and the odd pub-singer moment works fitfully at best
At 72, Iggy can do what he likes, and this quiet, spiritual jazz-tinged album suits him
Iggy affectingly contemplates life and mortality in an often tuneful, jazz-flecked set. Review by Thomas H Green.