“I’m the guy with no shirt who rocks,” announced Iggy Pop ahead of this, his 19th solo album. It’s this perception of the Stooges founder and “Godfather of punk” that’s most cemented in the public consciousness. In recent years, though, the now 75-year-old singer has seemed on a mission to do anything but rock with his shirt off: he turned unlikely jazz crooner for 2009’s Préliminaires, sang Edith Piaf and Beatles covers in French on 2012’s Après and echoed his superlative 1970s David Bowie collaborations on 2016’s Josh Homme-helmed Post Pop Depression. He has also become a much-loved BBC 6 Music DJ and has popped up to provide guest vocals for other artists ranging from Belgian violinist Catherine Graindorge to electronic giants Underworld. On his last solo album, 2019’s quietly reflective Free, he recited poetry by Lou Reed and Dylan Thomas – although it’s hard to tell whether he kept a shirt on while doing so.
