Iggy Pop has shared a new video for “American Valhalla”, off his Josh Homme collaboration Post Pop Depression. The song see its narrator in search of an American Valhalla — a “hall of the fallen” according to Norse mythology. Unsure of his worth to enter such a space, Pop sings, “This hasn’t been/ An easy life.”
In the video, directed by Jamie-James Medina, model Ruth Bell fidgets on a stool while a video box covers most of her face. The video flashes between a boxing match and images of Pop — shirtless in a blazer (though he later loses the blazer) singing in desperation to the skies above.
The video ends on a eerie, and contrasting, note. The video box becomes full-screen and shows one of the boxers celebrating victory, though the cheering cuts off and Bell, whose full-face is now shown with bruises and cuts, appears again as Pop utters, “I’ve nothing, but my name/I’ve nothing, but my name.”
Medina explained the inspiration for the video (via Nowness): “I was listening to ‘American Valhalla’ and was reminded of this very low-key but classic fight between Dick Tiger and Gene Fullmer, which took place in Nigeria in 1963 and for whatever reason I found a connection there,” he said. “There is so much history in Iggy’s voice and that seems to be a theme throughout his new record — the contender or the survivor or the last man standing. Iggy remembers watching the fight, which is incredible.”
Watch the video above.
