With the imminent return of the iconic TV series it’s perhaps the best time to revisit the classic soundtrack from Twin Peaks, which returns to vinyl after 25 years. John Earls reports…
DEATH WALTZ
With excitement mounting over David Lynch’s new Twin Peaks TV series next year, Death Waltz has chosen an ideal time to get Angelo Badalamenti’s score back on vinyl, 25 years after it was originally released. The response to the opening bars of the main Twin Peaks Theme and its vocal cousin Falling sung by Julee Cruise remain Pavlovian for any TV fan over 40. What’s an unexpected delight is how familiar many of the other pieces are, with Audrey’s Dance instantly evoking the show’s warped eroticism.
Badalementi admits in the sleevenotes that Twin Peaks is ‘my defining work’, and Death Waltz has treated it with the reverence it deserves. Artist Sam Smith’s soundwave-style graphics on the cover can be filed next to Joy Division’s Unknown Pleasures, with the die-cut gatefold sleeve featuring an elegant white dot pattern before the black inner sleeve gives Smith’s patterns some contrast. It’s pressed on ‘damn fine coffee’ coloured vinyl in honour of Agent Dale Cooper’s catchphrase and the swirling effect of the coffee hypnotises the listener into visions of Laura Palmer, even as the faintly terrifying Dance Of The Dream Man plays.
