Post Pop Depression

Background and recording

Pop and Homme began working on the album in January 2015. Pop contacted Homme by text message to ask if he was interested in writing music together. After they spoke by phone, Pop sent Homme some lyrics by mail, along with notes about Pop's time working with David Bowie. Three months later, Homme sent lyrics to Pop, and they agreed to work together on recording songs in a studio. They brought incomplete ideas as opposed to finished songs, so that they could work on them together. Pop described the album as discussing issues of what happens when your utility is at an end, and dealing with your legacy.

Consisting of nine songs, the album was recorded between January 12 and March 9, 2015 at Rancho De La Luna in Joshua Tree, California, over the course of two weeks, and another week at Pink Duck Studios in Burbank, California. Pop and Homme self-financed the album. Dean Fertita recorded guitar and keyboards, while Matt Helders recorded drum tracks. Homme stated that preparing Post Pop Depression was one thing that helped him cope with the aftermath of the November 2015 attack at the Bataclan.

The album was released on March 18, 2016. Pop and Homme had already embarked on March 9, 2016 in Los Angeles, CA on a US tour to support the album due to be followed in May 2016 by a European tour. In addition to Pop and Homme, the tour includes Fertita, Helders, Matt Sweeney playing bass guitar and Troy Van Leeuwen playing guitar.

They debuted their first song, "Gardenia", on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert on January 21, 2016. The song peaked at number 26 on Adult Alternative Songs. The album debuted at number 17 on the Billboard 200 making the album Iggy Pop's highest charting in the US. It also charted highly in other parts of the world as well.

Critical reception

Post Pop Depression received mostly positive reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from critics, the album received an average score of 79, which indicates "generally positive reviews", based on 33 reviews. Clash magazine critic Josh Gray was positive in his review, writing that the record "is what it says on the tin and Iggy Pop is what every aspect the music revolves around." Matt Wilkinson of NME praised the album and gave it a perfect score, describing it as "an intelligent, sassy garage rock record that’s obsessed with sex and death" and "a solid gold proof of his [Pop's] genius." Pitchfork's Stuart Berman stated: "If Post Pop Depression’s refined execution has you missing the more unhinged Iggy of old, rest assured, he’s not going down without a fight." Andy Gill of The Independent wrote: "It’s as if he’s grown so sick and tired of the veneers of respectability cocooning American sensibilities that, reverting to type once more, he wants to be your dog again."

In December, 2016, the album was nominated for a Grammy Award in the Best Alternative Music Album category.

Personnel