One would think that after 50 years, Iggy Pop would run out of ways to surprise listeners, but today’s release of the music video for “SONALI” shows the 72-year-old legend has no intention of letting up or calming down.
Last month’s release of Iggy Pop’s latest album, Free, appeared to mark his departure into a more reflective, jazzier direction. The Mac DeMarco-directed video for the Leron Thomas/Ruby Sylvain-penned “SONALI”, however, shows that Iggy has certainly not forgotten where he came from in terms of taking far-out, daring risks as a performer. It is unclear how much artistic guidance DeMarco took from Pop in directing the video, or how much direction Pop took from DeMarco, but regardless of wherever the two compromised, the product is a must-see “officially unofficial” video, as Pop refers to it on his YouTube channel.
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The plot of the video is fairly straightforward: Lizard man is in love with Lizard woman. But his love is thwarted by the only thing in the universe more powerful than love: traffic—specifically, Los Angeles traffic. As he sits in gridlock in his furry pink Cadillac, he is reduced to trying to translate his love through the phone, to little avail. But when all else fails, he knows that no amount of rush-hour congestion can keep him from the love of his saxophone, so he blows his heart out for the entire freeway to hear. Watch the video below:
Iggy Pop – “SONALI” [Officially Unofficial Video]
[Video: Iggy Pop Official]
The video collaboration between Pop and DeMarco is seemingly unprompted by any other musical camaraderie, as DeMarco is kicking off a two-month world tour that includes stops in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Istanbul, Turkey, New Year’s Eve in New York City, Mexico, and more. Pop, on the other hand, has only one upcoming show on for March 6th at The Beacon Theatre in New York.