Release of the Week 16/7
Underworld and Iggy Pop’s collaborative EP Teatime Dub Encounters has produced some calm atmospheric tracks, like ‘I’ll See Big’, and some high-octane energetic tracks, like ‘Bells and Circles’, but this latest release is the first to properly demonstrate the potential of these musical veterans. With Iggy Pop having a career renaissance at the same time Underworld dominated the UK electronic scene, both in-part due to being prominently featured on the soundtrack for the film Trainspotting, it was only fitting that the two would come together while working on last year’s T2: Trainspotting. On ‘Get Your Shirt’ Iggy Pop brings his proto-punk aggression and hauntingly poetic lyrics to Underworld’s kinetic dance vibes. This fusion of two UK legends not only delivers decades of experience but also a unique sound.
From the second the track begins, listeners can identify Underworld’s contributions. The blasting synths and thumping bassline grounds the seven-minute dance track in a consistently energizing groove, typical of other Underworld songs like ‘Born Slippy’ or ‘Underneath the Radar’. Once Iggy Pop’s vocals begin, the layers of electronic instrumentation modernise Pop’s rock sound. The poetic lyrics maintain Pop’s thought provoking storytelling but with concise simplicity and danceable repetition, with lines like “I fell in love, I fell, I got, I got ripped off” both synchronising to the energetic beat, invigorating the listener and building a serious narrative.
All of this acts as a vehicle to build to the chorus, with Iggy commanding the audience to get their shirts. With high synth beats cutting over the rhyming lyrics “don’t try hard to be a flirt, get your shirt”, the chorus explodes into a wave of European techno dance vibes. With this chorus, and Iggy Pop’s history of shirtless performing, it almost acts as an ironic call to lose the shirt and embrace the dance. It wouldn’t be a good EDM track if over the seven-minute marathon it didn’t pace itself, resting with the lows and building to the highs. With multiple verses, expanding choruses and an extended dance interlude, the track is built for a dark and sweaty dancefloor where the listener can only stop when Underworld and Iggy Pop want them to.
