On his 2009 solo album, 'Preliminaires,' Iggy Pop put aside the guitar-driven, rockin' Stooges side of his musical personality and instead crooned covers and originals in both French and English.

Pop once again pursues the French/English language and cover-song angles on his forthcoming follow-up effort, 'Apres' — and the outside material includes tunes made famous by the the Beatles and Yoko Ono.

The 10-track 'Apres,' due in early May, includes Pop’s renditions of the Paul McCartney-fronted Beatles ballad 'Michelle' as well as Ono's 'I'm Going Away Smiling.'

"All popular music forms of today get their strength from the beat," Pop said recently. "I've always loved this other feeling, one that is intimate, sometimes a little sad, and does not try to beat me on the head."

'Apres' — Pop's first featuring all covers — will be released via the distribution channel vente-privee.com, which is a joint venture between American Express subsidiaries. (Oooh, we feel like a business paper now!)

"I liked its concept, its innovation and its quick turnaround times," Pop said of vente-privee.com. "The way the audience discovers the album, listens to it, then buys it, all goes really quickly, and I like that! I'm also very curious to see how it goes as I'm in unknown territory here."

More From Ultimate Classic Rock