‘Post Pop Depression’ by Iggy Pop Album Review: A Farewell You Won’t Forget

Iggy Pop‘s 17th and quite likely his final studio album titled Post Pop Depression is a decadent and balanced affair. Thanks to collaborator and producer Josh Homme, the mastermind behind Queens of the Stone Age, Iggy Pop’s raw, uncontained, rebellious spirit is streamlined into an invigorating and masterful creation worthy of the legend’s iconic status. Iggy steps out of his comfort zone to deliver an album that easily rivals his best work and has the singer manages to break new ground even into the 21st century.

Post Pop Depression by Iggy Pop Album Review

The album’s nine songs all appear very deliberate and calculated, which is part of what makes Post Pop Depression a truly great endeavor and a brilliant work of two musical geniuses. With appearances from Queens of the Stone Age guitarist Dean Fertita and Arctic Monkeys drummer Matt Helders Iggy and Homme have clearly pulled all the necessary strings to create a record that right off the bat has its rightful place among the greatest works of rock and roll.

“Gardenia” is perhaps the most cheerful tracks on the record and up to one point arguably most out of character for Iggy Pop. It has a certain romanticism and unexpected sentimentality coupled with Iggy’s undying youthful angst. This makes for one of the strongest tracks on the album with unapologetically frank lyrics about sex, destruction and death.

“Break Into Your Heart” is the steady opener, which bears some slight resemblance to David Bowie’s most recent album Blackstar in its dark tunes and riffs. “American Valhalla” is similarly quirky and eerie in its lyrics, longing for a mystical surrealism. It is also simultaneously infused with a heartbreaking dose of reality, whereby Iggy laments numerous times “I have nothing but my name.” The song concludes with his voice hauntingly repeating this same line. This sense of finality is echoed throughout the album and communicates an impending end that may just be too difficult to accept. Iggy’s world-weariness is not something he and Homme have shied away from. In fact, it is something that the album cleverly highlights without making it too obtrusive.

In a similar note, the first half of the closing track “Paraguay” lays out the singer’s intention to get away and ride off into the sunset. The track has an atmosphere of resignation, but just when you think that the legendary rock and roll singer is leaving with his head down, the closer track switches into an energetic, snarky closing fit. Backed by Homme’s invigorating guitar licks and vocals, Iggy slays the last few seconds he has with spitting out sassy spoken lines and dragged out vocals. We can simply conclude that he won’t go down without a fight. “I don’t need you,” he yells out to whoever will listen — the critics, the fans, the wiseasses out there — as he slams the door shut behind him.

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