By now, you’re probably well aware of Star Trekactor William Shatner’s infamous second career as a musical performer. His 1978 performance of Elton John’s ‘Rocket Man‘ still regularly makes its rounds online, delighting sci-fi fans and detractors alike.
Well, at 87 years old, Captain Kirk himself will be releasing his first Christmas album on Friday. Earlier this week, he released the first single off of the record, ‘Silent Night’ featuring punk rock pioneer Iggy Pop. Listen below.
Performed in his patented spoken-word “singing” style, Shatner tackles the verses while Iggy takes the chorus.
It’s worth noting, too, that while Iggy is inarguably a great performer and a total badass, his aptitude as a crooner is not to everyone’s taste, making it an even stranger pairing with Shatner’s dramatic readings.
The song builds to a relatively low-key crescendo towards the end of the song, when the two perform a harmony (of sorts), in which Iggy sings and Shatner echoes his words. Is it music? We’re not sure. Is it art? Absolutely.
We don’t know about you, but we can dig it. It might not bump ‘Kenny & Dolly‘off the turntable, but it’ll probably get a stream or two from us this holiday season.
