Chrystabell and David Lynch – ‘Cellophane Memories’ album review: misty mood music
THE SKINNY: David Lynch has honed a directorial style so singular that an entirely new adjective was concocted to describe it. The term Lynchian has many tangible properties – a surrealist screenplay, dream-like visuals, and gorgeous soundtracks usually contributed by Angelo Badalamenti. But, more than anything, the term seems to describe a certain mood, a mood that extends beyond Lynch’s work in the director’s seat and into the many other art forms he has tried his hand at.
Expectedly, that mood finds its way into Cellophane Memories, Lynch’s latest offering and his third collaborative album with singer and former Twin Peaks star Chrystabell. Inspired by a vision the director had during a wander through the trees at dusk, the record is just as mysterious and dreamy as any of Lynch’s visual offerings. If you have a rough idea of what the word “Lynchian” pertains to, you probably have a pretty solid idea of what Cellophane Memories sounds like.
Chrystabell’s vocals swirl and bend around one another, or they’re put in reverse as if transporting listeners to Twin Peaks’ zig-zag-floored red room. They’re not quite as airy as Julee Cruise’s, who lent her voice to many of Lynch’s collaborations with Badalamenti. They’re a little harsher, a little more impenetrable. Synths and strings sit just beneath, either grounding Chrystabell’s words or making them all the more disorienting.
Chrystabell has described the record as mood music, but not in the manner that it sways your mood—rather, it reflects it. I’m inclined to agree. On a surface level, Cellophane Memories is a little hard to penetrate or understand. It’s easy to get lost in overlapping voices and country-style twangs. But if you give into the reverb and the surrealism, it’s yet another glimpse into Lynch’s mood-making abilities.
For fans of: Calling things “Lynchian” when you’ve only seen the first three episodes of Twin Peaks.
A concluding comment from Special Agent Dale Cooper: “Damn good music.”
Cellophane Memories track-by-track:
Release date: August 2nd | Producer: David Lynch | Label: Sacred Bones Records
‘She Knew’: ‘She Knew’ beckons you into the forest of a neighbouring town of Twin Peaks, into the wonders and horrors it might hold. Chrystabell’s vocals overlap and interrupt one another while Badalamenti-style synths swirl and swell underneath. Instantly Lynchian. [2.5/5]
‘The Sky Falls’: Chrystabell’s vocals weave themselves into the instrumentation a little more on the album’s second track, ‘The Sky Falls’. Her words are hard to make out, so they almost become a part of the furniture instead. [3/5]
‘You Know The Rest’: Strums replace synths on ‘You Know The Rest’, which features a lonely guitar with little more than echoes and reverberations for company. Chrystabell’s vocals still overlap, but they backtrack too, creating something slightly more sinister as they play in reverse. [3/5]
‘So Much Love’: Chrystabell guides us into the quiet countryside on ‘So Much Love’, which plunges the record into new supernatural circles. Her vocals still can’t keep still, bouncing between high and low at will. [3/5]
‘Two Lovers Kiss’: Like the sweet moment it takes its title from, ‘Two Lovers Kiss’ is tender and loving. Chrystabell’s ever-overlapping words take turns rather than cutting in, like lovers who know one another all too well. [3/5]
‘The Answers to the Questions’: True mood music. A gentle groove, a saloon-worthy twang, and almost mechanical percussion blend together to create one of the most interesting tracks on the album. It would fit seamlessly into the Twin Peaks soundtrack if Twin Peaks was a western. [4/5]
‘With Small Animals’: Lynch’s sunlit synths beat down on Chrystabell in ‘With Small Animals’, a song that sounds like resolution, like reaching the end of the forest and feeling the warmth on your face once more. [3/5]
‘Reflections in a Blade’: That warm feeling doesn’t last too long, as Lynch drags us back into the darkest part of the forest on ‘Reflections in a Blade’. It’s one of the eeriest offerings on the record, owing to Chrystabell’s disorienting vocals and creaking, vibrating instrumentation. [3.5/5]
‘Dance of Light’: ‘Dance of Light’ provides listeners with the clearest version of Chrystabell’s vocals, with the glowing images that inspired the record in the first place. There’s little room for dancing but lots for light. [3/5]
‘Sublime Eternal Love’: With pensive whirrs and surreal phrasing, ‘Sublime Eternal Love’ comes as close as humanly possible to evoking the atmosphere of Twin Peaks without getting Kyle MacLachlan involved. It’s a gorgeous, or sublime, ending. [3.5/5]
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