“Broken Boy” — Cage The Elephant feat. Iggy Pop

Originally published by Alt Citizen

2020 has started off with a bang for Cage The Elephant, taking home their second Grammy win for Best Rock Album at the end of January, and just days before the band surprise dropped a new version of “Broken Boy” from Social Cues featuring living legend Iggy Pop on guest vocals.

This new version isn’t all that different aside from bringing Iggy in to elevate the already very good track. Kicking off with the same breakneck speed of the album cut, Iggy gradually makes his presence known by slowly emerging from the dense guitar feedback in the first chorus, gravelly voice creeping up behind Matt Shultz’s caterwaul before completely taking over on the next verse. “Tell me why I'm forced to live in this skin/I'm an alien, not just an alien” carries decades of alternative rock history when delivered by Iggy who built an identity out of being radically different and characteristically unpredictable at every turn but was still embraced by the mainstream, much in the same way as his mentor David Bowie.

Iggy has frequently appeared on tracks with wide ranging artists through the years (White Zombie, Peaches, and Cat Power to name a few) but on “Broken Boy” the pairing feels completely natural, especially considering Shultz’s very Iggy-esque performance in Cage The Elephant’s video for “Ready To Let Go”, also off Social Cues, and the kind of left field alternative space Iggy and the CTE boys both inhabit so well.

The Grammys also awarded Iggy Pop with a lifetime achievement award at the same ceremony CTE took home their second trophy which makes this team up feel even more significant, a kind of passing of the torch from an icon of creative genius to the next generation of charming weirdos pushing the boundaries of alternative music in the mainstream.