The Moonlandingz enlist Iggy Pop for their most vulnerable single release yet

Words by Chiara Strazzulla

Photography by Maisy Banks

When it came to collaborations, the first album released by The Moonlandingz – 2017’s Interplanetary Class Classics, which, faithful to its name, has stood the test of time and become a proper cult classic in its own right – was arguably very hard to beat, with the likes of Self Esteem and even Yoko Ono making an appearance in its line-up. Yet if something is true about The Moonlandingz (other than the fact that they are possibly the best band that never truly existed) it is their determination to constantly one-up themselves, and it appears that they have done so yet again, enlisting a star-studded set of collaborations for their second long player, the soon-to-be-released No Rocket Required. We’ve heard Nadine Shah duet with Lias Saoudi-as-Johnny Rocket to great effect in Roustabout, and now, for the latest pre-release single, The Moonlandingz are bringing out the biggest guns possible in the person of the rock legend himself, Iggy Pop, who has lent his vocals (and, quite possibly, his soul) to the newly unveiled It’s Where I’m From. By the premise itself this promised to be a truly impressive piece of music; and indeed it was – just not in what may have been the most obvious way.

Thanks no doubt to the many influences which have coalesced into their supergroup origins, The Moonlandingz have from their very beginning stood out for the sheer range of their voice; equally comfortable with electronic bops and maudlin ballads, they have all but trained their audiences to expect the unexpected. Yet if a red thread runs through most of their previous output, it could be argued that it is a sort of meticulous quirkiness, a penchant for (and an unrestrained glee in) blending all sort of different sonic tics and vagaries together into a remarkably precise and complex whole.

It is the same approach they have followed in their previous singles from the new album, which, while remarkably different from each other, all have this one thing in common – their many layers of composition elements you wouldn’t necessarily think to put together, made to work with clockwork precision. This is where It’s Where I’m From is different: its structure is stripped-back, its vocal line requires a good deal of soulful crooning but also a willingness to get deliberately dirty in places – you can’t lay yourself bare in this way if you are technically perfect – and its lyrics, devoid of the caustic sense of humour the band tends to infuse all their music with, are gut-punch earnest. Iggy Pop is a genius choice for delivering the vocals on this track; he puts his back and his heart into it, and makes it feel like you’re listening to the confession of someone who has truly lived through life and has the scars to prove it.

When he all but implores, “Won’t someone put their arms around me, I cannot take the pain of those who’ve gone”, it’s near impossible not to feel the urge to share in the moment of mutual comfort (or perhaps of mutual desolation); when he reflects that “everywhere I look it’s where I’m from” it’s all too easy to believe that this comes from a place of real experience and pain. Both in this earnestness, in the gravelly vocals, and in the structure of the song, a slow and murky ballad punctuated by a ripple of mournful saxophone, the track feels like The Moonlandingz doing Leonard Cohen, or perhaps Tom Waits – or quite possibly a bit of both.

The release comes accompanied by a black-and-white video directed by Jeanie Crystal, who has also been behind the rest of the visuals for previous single releases out of the new album and has used them to explore – in very different ways – aspects of the theme of vulnerable masculinity, which is clearly on the mind of the band if the lyrics thus far are anything to go by – as well as a prominent and rather disquieting part of the zeitgeist right now. Here we have stark monochromatic visuals, dance moves expressing in equal measure a liberating sensuality and a subtle undertone of paying, and a sense of being laid bare that is perfectly coupled with the mood of this track. Where The Sign of A Man was caustic and tongue-in-cheek, It’s Where I’m From is uncomfortably earnest; both are memorable in their willingness to go places where contemporary music most often doesn’t dare venture – both sonically and thematically. The Moonlandingz’ mission to surprise us all continues, and we may just end up shedding an unexpected tear with them as we follow them through it. 

The Moonlandingz - 'It's Where I'm From' (Official Music Video)

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Credits:

Director: Jeanie Crystal @jeanie_crystal

Assistant Director: Farry @iwigertoods

Assistant Director: Maisy Banks @maisybanks

DOP: James Sharpe @jamessharpestudio

Co-Producer: Ruby Constance @wayne_wooby

Co-Producer: Alex Izzard @alex_izzarrd

Assistant Gaffer: Jacob Ray @jcobray

Editor: Joe Cretney @joe.cretney

Grader: Michael Pearce @mpearcecolour

Costume design: Georgia Clark @georgiaclarkldn

Art Dept: Steve Aldridge @aldrii1

Art Dept: Jon Freeman @instafreemz

Makeup Artist: Yasmin Khan @yasminkhanmakeup

Dancers

Sam Dilkes: @sam_dilkes, Ollie Mozley: @olliemozley

Artist

The Moonlandingz: @the_moonlandingz, Iggy Pop @iggypopofficial, Lias Saoudi:@lias_saoudi

BTS photographer @maisybanks

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