April 23, 2012 12:50

Iggy Pop covers The Beatles, Frank Sinatra, Edith Piaf on new album 'Apres'

Singer's 16th solo album is due out on May 9

Photo: Andy Willsher/NME

Iggy Pop has announced that he will release a new covers album next month, which will feature renditions of tracks by the likes of Frank Sinatra, The Beatles and Edith Piaf.

The album, which is titled 'Apres', will be released on May 9 and contains 10 tracks in all. Among them are covers of Sinatra's 'Only The Lonely', the Fab Four's 'Michelle', Edith Piaf's 'La Vie En Rose', Serge Gainsbourg's 'La Javanaise' and Yoko Ono's 'I'm Going Away Smiling'.

The album is the follow-up to Iggy Pop's 2009 effort 'Préliminaires' and the singer has said he has chosen to sing a number of French songs as French culture has " most stubbornly resisted the mortal attacks of the Anglo-American music machine."

He said of 'Apres': "All popular music forms of today get their strength from the beat. Rap, hip-hop, metal, pop, and rock producers will tell you that the beats they use imitate the human heartbeat and that is where the power lies. I've always loved this other feeling, one that is intimate, sometimes a little sad, and does not try to beat me on the head."

He continued:

I wanted to sing some of these songs myself, hoping to bring the feeling I felt as a listener to my listeners through my voice. Many of these songs are in French, probably because it is French culture which has most stubbornly resisted the mortal attacks of the Anglo-American music machine.

The tracklisting for 'Apres' is as follows:

'Et Si Tu N'existais Pas'
'La Javanaise'
'Everybody's Talkin''
'I'm Going Away Smiling'
'La Vie En Rose'
'Les Passantes'
'Syracuse'
'What Is This Thing Called Love?'
'Michelle'
'Only The Lonely'

To watch an exclusive NME archive video interview with Iggy Pop, scroll down and click below.

Video: Iggy Pop - 'Sometimes It's An Invasion'

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