SOFT ROCK PER IGGY SECONDO THE GUARDIAN

Iggy Pop is to release an album of soft-rock covers, featuring ballads in English and French. A follow-up to 2009’s Houellebecq-inspired Préliminaires, the set will include a version of the Beatles’ Michelle and songs by Serge Gainsbourg and Henri Salvador.

“There are no rock songs,” Pop told Billboard this week. As with Préliminaires, the as-yet untitled record was produced by Hal Cragin; unlike that release, this LP includes “very little writing”. Instead, Pop is tackling “American and French … classic tunes,” such as Fred Neil’s Everybody’s Talkin’. “[We’ve] recorded most of it but not all of it,” he said. “I’d like to get it out for Christmas this year, and if it doesn’t then I reckon it will come out in January next year – but over the winter, for sure.”

Once that album is out of the way, the rocker said he’s set to complete a new album with the Stooges, his first since 2007. Despite the absence of co-founder Ron Asheton, who died in 2009, the Stooges have been touring hard, reunited with early guitarist James Williamson. Williamson and Pop last collaborated on the 1973 classic Raw Power; their new songs, about eight so far, sound “halfway between Raw Power and Kill City”, Pop said. “Maybe some of them need to be more complete or some of them need to be forgotten,” he explained, “and then some of them … just flow right along.

“James is like, ‘Come on, let’s go!’ but it feels to me like we’ll try to put [the album] together in 2012 and get it out late then or in the next year, in 2013,” he said. The band is also working with director Jim Jarmusch for a new documentary, “more about the group than about me”.

Despite the thrill of these new developments – two albums! A Jarmusch-helmed documentary! – the American public is much more interested in what Iggy Pop was doing last Thursday night. The rocker was a surprise performer on American Idol, leaping and writhing for a rather un-rock’n’roll studio audience. “It was just a gig,” Pop said. “I went and did my thing, basically … I don’t know what to say about it, exactly, except I didn’t know what to expect [and] I had a good time.” He praised two past Idol winners, Jennifer Hudson and Carrie Underwood, and revealed that he had been approached to become a judge on the programme.

“It didn’t go very far,” he said. “There were two phone calls … I was curious and we spoke a couple of times, and that was as far as that went. I don’t think I could’ve done the right job for them on that particular show.” I think Steven (Tyler) does a really, really good job of it.”

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