Iggy Pop has unveiled a striking and sparse new video for “We Are The People,” from his critically lauded album Free. In the wake of last week’s live rendition of the song by Iggy accompanied by Laurie Anderson at Carnegie Hall, the “We Are The People” clip imbues Iggy’s interpretation of a poem written by Lou Reed in 1970 with a riveting new visual dimension.
From the opening lines “We are the people without land. We are the people without tradition. We are the people who do not know how to die peacefully and at ease” to the song’s slow fade, the effect of Iggy’s close-up recitation is transfixing.
The video arrived this week on what would have been Reed’s 78th birthday.
Free was originally released in September 2019 via Caroline Australia. Featuring collaborators Leron Thomas (trumpet/keys/songwriting) and Noveller (guitar/vocals), the album holds a singular place in Iggy’s canon—and has generated suitably unique praise: The New York Times called the title track “atmospheric and elusive” and praised the song “Sonali” as “a rushing, fluttering, quasi-waltz that hurries toward an undisclosed destination, whimsical but driven.” Rolling Stone regaled Iggy’s performance on the new record, “Pop flexes his baritone, expressing himself more clearly than perhaps ever before.” And the Washington Post noted “Iggy haunts these new songs like a dignified spirit — which might make Free an exposition on death, or transcendence, or both.”
This week, Pop will be a special guest of Jane Birkin, performing The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon.
