A great album for David Lynch fans, Julee Cruise in her greatest moment. Dream pop, calm, and sombre magical are the words for this album which created the mood for the must watch TV series Twin Peaks.

This album was created of the back of the Blue Velvet film, and used extensively for the soundtrack of Twin Peaks the television series. Angelo Badalamenti and Director David Lynch composed the music and Julee Cruise was brought in to perform the hauntingly beautiful album. Twin Peaks was a revolutionary television series with touches of the surreal based around the brutal murder of a high school girl, Laura Palmer, in a rural community.

Badlamenti was tasked by David Lynch to create ethereal music for the earlier Lynch film Blue Velvet. Cruise was selected on the basis of her participation in a Theatre Workshop that Badalamenti had produced. When Badalamenti was commissioned to create the soundtrack for Twin Peaks Crusie was the perfect choice.

 

The single was called falling and it made the Billboard charts while the album sold half a million copies.

Released
1990

Lyrics
Yes this album is a breathy showpiece. All lyrics were written by David Lynch and all music was composed by Angelo Badamamenti.

Mood
Calm and relaxed is what this album is all about.

Good to work to
Great album to relax to.

Like
Like a jazzy mood album of the past, mixed in with a dose of dark magic.

The Artist/s
Julee Cruise who sings the tracks is an actress and singer.

David Lynch the lyricist is an acclaimed film director

Angelo Badalamenti is a composer who has worked on a host of soundtracks and other musical projects

Other works
Julee Cruise did release other albums after this but it would be fair to say there is no way it could be compared to this.

What I would recommend is the Blue Velvet soundtrack. This was another Lynch Badalamenti collaboration and the first where they brought in Julee Cruise on the track Mysteries of Love. The success of this collaboration gave the impetus for the latter album. It is different as it is a more traditional soundtrack featuring the music of other artists such as Roy Obison with In Dreams and Bobby Vinton on the title track Blue Velvet.

Angelo Badalamenti was a continued collaborator with David Lynch so you might want to check out some of the other soundtracks they worked on such as the darker follow up Twin Peaks movie Fire Walk with Me, likewise other movies such as Mullholland Drive. I wasn’t able to find much of this on itunes, although I’m sure it’s there if you search hard enough. Below is a link to the official Twin Peaks soundtrack.

 

You may also like Dark night of the soul, a musical/visual project of Sparklehorse and David Lynch with a range of musicians and featuring Lynch singing on a few of the tracks. A different style to the featured album, but interesting

Where Can I buy it, and in what formats
A bit pricier on vinyl these days, but fairly cheap on iTunes and a winner from start to finish.

The Verdict
A great album, just what you need to send yo on to another world. This album definitely has a presence that may work for you.