A 449-second, purely hypothetical rumination on what Iggy Pop would do “if [he] had wings” is something that, until it’s been presented to you in all of its meandering, digressive glory, you’d be forgiven for thinking you may not have any immediate need therefor. But Bells & Circles, a throbbing collaboration with techno doyens Underworld, proves as, if not more vital than nicotine ever could, as Pop compellingly recalls “smoking on the aeroplane,” snorting “a gram of cocaine” off the tray table, and picking up “a dusky, tall American” stewardess in some vague, garbled order. It’s not all about the Godfather of Punk, though, as Karl Hyde’s aptly lucent, “transcendent” leitmotif (“Sunlight on my wings,” he sings with seraphic relish as and whenever able to get a word in edgeways) is similarly radiant, but as Pop implores there be “no more rock critics,” we’d best let this essential listen do the rest of the rambling for us…
Bells & Circles is available now via Smith Hyde Productions / Thousand Mile Inc., while Iggy Pop plays Finsbury Park (in support of Queens of the Stone Age) on June 30th.