| Free | ||||
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | September 6, 2019 | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 33:44 | |||
| Label | ||||
| Iggy Pop chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Free | ||||
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Free is the eighteenth studio album by American rock singer Iggy Pop, released by Caroline International and Loma Vista Recordings on September 6, 2019. [2] It features contributions from Noveller and Leron Thomas, and the title track was released along with the album announcement. [3] A music video for the album's second single, "James Bond", was released on August 14, 2019. [4]
Iggy Pop described the album as "reflect[ing]" the exhaustion of post-tour life" as well as "uniquely somber and contemplative". [5] He went on to say that after touring in support of Post Pop Depression , he felt "drained" and wanted to be "free", so the album "just kind of happened to me, and I let it happen". [6] In an interview with Exclaim! , he elaborated: "I wanted to wiggle out of the frame of rock instrumentation that I'd gotten encased in over time. There's nothing wrong with it, but it wasn't what I felt at this time. I was interested in working with some fine musicians who broke out of the normal time and space." [7] Pop also called it "an album in which other artists speak for me, but I lend my voice". [5] The record has been referred to as a work of ambient music, [1]
Pop first learned of Sarah Lipstate, who records under the name Noveller, and Leron Thomas while hosting his BBC Radio 6 Music show; he contacted them to express his appreciation, which eventually led to collaborations. [7] In 2016, Pop invited Lipstate to open for him during the Post Pop Depression tour. [8] Of Thomas, Pop said, "little by little, his stuff was knocking me out, and I really wanted to sing [on] his songs." [7]
The track "We Are the People" features lyrics written by Lou Reed in 1970 but first published posthumously in 2018. The words "totally resonated" with Pop: "Like, 'wham', like 'pow'. It was the first poem in a book of lyrics and when I saw it, I thought, 'My God, this is the country today as I understand it, or at least one legitimate portrayal of the country today. It really spoke to me." [9]
"Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night" is a reading of the poem of the same name by Dylan Thomas. Pop had previously done a recording of the poem at the request of an advertising agency, who wanted it for a commercial; Pop provided a reading, but initially didn't think much of it. By the time of the recording of Free, Pop had grown to like it and decided to rerecord the poem and have Lipstate and Thomas improvise around it. [10]
| Aggregate scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Metacritic | 73/100 [11] |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [12] |
| Consequence of Sound | B− [13] |
| Chicago Tribune |  [14] |
| Exclaim! | 8/10 [15] |
| The Independent | [16] |
| NME | [17] |
| The Observer | [18] |
| Pitchfork | 6.7/10 [19] |
| Rolling Stone | [20] |
| The Skinny | [21] |
Free received generally positive reviews from critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from critics, the album received an average score of 73, which indicates "generally favorable reviews", based on 18 reviews. [11]
Adam White of The Independent describes Free as an album built on "unwieldy and uncertain jam sessions", marking a departure from Post Pop Pression that he predicted would polarise fans. He wrote that it showcases Pop "embracing the guises of poet and provocateur", and described the spoken word tracks as more intriguing than the traditional ones, adding that: "Free often feels like the messiest kind of improv, full of stream-of-consciousness expressions and storytelling that doesn't follow any particular logic." [16] Mark Deming of AllMusic wrote that the album continued Pop's less aggressive, more pensive side from Préliminaires (2009) and Après (2012), prioritizing atmospheric keyboards and spectral trumpet. "As a detour from rock & roll," Deming wrote," Free is a fine and compelling study of the mind and mood of Iggy Pop at the age of 72, and if it's clearly the work of an older artist, that works to its favor, a pointed contrast to the abandon of his youth but with no less gravitas." [12]
In Rolling Stone , Kory Grow wrote: "The only difference from this Iggy and the one who founded the Stooges is the album’s jazzy horns, synthy backdrops, and greater emphasis on Sinatra-style crooning. As luck would have it, the Iguana makes a convincing lounge lizard." [20] Writing for Pitchfork , Stephen Thomas Erlewine also grouped the album with the "jazzy arthouse inspirations" Pop exhibied on Après and Préliminaires, adding that while this a departure from Post Pop Depression, it is "merely another iteration of the divide between Iggy Pop and Jim Osterberg: Homme brought out the rocker, while Free allows Osterberg to turn inward and meditate." He qualifeid that while the album's haziness and pensive soundscapes are alluring, he wished they were sometimes more sculpted, but added that "there's something curiously human and appealing about its ungainly nature." [19]
In a reserved review, Max Sefton of The Skinny said the album would baffle "all but the most hardcore Iggy Pop fans", saying: "There's more fuzzed-up sax and a lugubrious pace, as if the septuagenarian star is happy playing about with whatever ideas pop into his head on a Miami evening." [21]
Pop performed the entire album live for the first time on 10 October 2019 at La Gaîté Lyrique in Paris as part of the Arte Concert Festival 2019. He ended the concert performing four other songs: solo songs "Sister Midnight" and "The Endless Sea", "Chop Chop Chop" (a Sleaford Mods cover tentatively retitled "People! Places! Parties!") and "Death Trip" (an Iggy and the Stooges song). [22]
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Free" |
| 1:48 |
| 2. | "Loves Missing" |
| 4:19 |
| 3. | "Sonali" |
| 3:30 |
| 4. | "James Bond" | Thomas | 4:31 |
| 5. | "Dirty Sanchez" | Thomas | 4:21 |
| 6. | "Glow in the Dark" | Thomas | 3:57 |
| 7. | "Page" | Thomas | 4:08 |
| 8. | "We Are the People" |
| 3:13 |
| 9. | "Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night" |
| 1:48 |
| 10. | "The Dawn" |
| 2:09 |
| Total length: | 33:44 | ||
Weekly charts
| Year-end charts
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Soldier is the fourth studio album by American rock singer Iggy Pop. It was released in February 1980 by record label Arista.
Brick by Brick is the ninth studio album by American singer Iggy Pop, released in June 1990 by Virgin Records.
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Naughty Little Doggie is the eleventh studio album by American rock singer Iggy Pop released in 1996. The last track, "Look Away", features his tribute to Johnny Thunders and Sable Starr. The photography is by David Sims and Anton Corbijn; and the artwork by Phil Bicker.
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Blah-Blah-Blah is the seventh studio album by American musician Iggy Pop. Released in October 1986, on the label A&M, it is his most commercially successful album. Blah-Blah-Blah appeared after a four-year hiatus for Pop, with David Bowie serving as his prime collaborator. It would be their final collaboration. A successful tour followed the album's release.
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Post Pop Depression is the seventeenth studio album by American rock singer Iggy Pop, released by Caroline International / Loma Vista Recordings on March 18, 2016. Produced by Josh Homme of Queens of the Stone Age, the album was recorded in secrecy and features contributions from Queens of the Stone Age keyboardist and guitarist Dean Fertita, and Arctic Monkeys drummer Matt Helders.
Nothing's Real is the debut studio album by English singer Shura, released on 8 July 2016 by Polydor Records. The album was met with positive reviews from music critics.
Masseduction is the fifth studio album by American musician St. Vincent, released on October 13, 2017, through Loma Vista Recordings. The album peaked at number 10 on the Billboard 200, becoming her first top ten album in the United States. The album also received universal acclaim and was the fourth-most mentioned in critics' year-end lists for 2017. At the 61st Annual Grammy Awards, Masseduction won the award for Best Recording Package and Best Rock Song for its title track, and was also nominated for the Best Alternative Music Album.
Freedom's Goblin is the tenth studio album by the American garage rock musician Ty Segall, released on January 26, 2018, on Drag City. The album is Segall's second to be recorded with his backing band The Freedom Band, formed during the recording of his previous album, Ty Segall.
Valve Bone Woe is the second solo studio album by American singer-songwriter Chrissie Hynde. The album consists entirely of cover versions, and was released on September 6, 2019, by BMG Rights Management.
Detroit Stories is the twenty-first solo and twenty-eighth overall studio album by American rock musician Alice Cooper. The album was released on February 26, 2021, by Earmusic. It crowned Billboard's Top Album Sales chart debuting at No. 1 and was the first chart-topper for Cooper in the 29-year history of the Top Album Sales chart. The album was produced by Bob Ezrin, who also added various instruments. As a solo album, it incorporates a variety of artists contributing on a number of instruments.
I'll Be Your Mirror: A Tribute to The Velvet Underground & Nico is a tribute album, by various artists, to the eponymous 1967 album The Velvet Underground & Nico by American rock band the Velvet Underground and German singer Nico. The tribute album was released by Verve Records and Universal Music Group on September 24, 2021, and features recordings of the original album's 11 songs by artists including St. Vincent, Sharon Van Etten, Bobby Gillespie, and Iggy Pop among others. The album released in proximity to The Velvet Underground, a documentary on the band by director Todd Haynes which was released October 15.
Every Loser is the nineteenth studio album by American rock singer Iggy Pop, released on January 6, 2023, by Gold Tooth and Atlantic Records. Produced by Andrew Watt, the album features a core backing band of Chad Smith as drummer and multi-instrumentalists Josh Klinghoffer and Andrew Watt.
