Preliminaires

Iggy Pop is back—not with a vengeance, but with an album of introspective, jazz-tinged, Leonard Cohen-esque standards and originals. Surprising? Sure. But the album succeeds because Pop bounces from track to track with the same swagger (albeit more muted this time out) that made him a punk icon. He simply refuses to acknowledge the shift in genre, instead diving head-on into this new sonic sea. From the upscale, hotel lounge-meets-faux-bossa nova vibe that Pop sings over on the timeless classic "Les Feuilles Mortes" (in French, of course) to the Louis Armstrong-meets-Tom Waits strut of "King of the Dogs," each track is an aural journey all its own. And on cuts like "I Wanna Go to the Beach" and "Spanish Coast," Pop's understated delivery draws even the most skeptical of listeners in, bathing his hushed voice in beds of stark piano and tremolo-washed guitar.—Jon Regen