The “phenomenal” Neil Young album David Lynch was “absolutely crazy” about
When David Lynch sadly passed earlier this year, there was a collective cry of loss from across the creative landscape. Actors, artists and musicians all paid their own tributes to someone who was undeniably a visionary, someone who would push boundaries and work outside of the norm to bring to life the ideas in his mind.
He was also someone who found a rich seam between music and film, the two so often going hand-in-hand to create memories and moments that are etched in our culture. But music was much more to Lynch than just a backdrop to his movies.
The director would release his own studio albums and often collaborated with the likes of Angelo Badalamenti, who scored the majority of his work, including Blue Velvet and Lost Highway. Lynch would produce music in several different genres, including experimental rock and electropop, and even released a blues album in 2001 on which he played guitar throughout.
Ten years later, he sang on his own album Crazy Clown Time, which also featured contributions from the likes of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ vocalist Karen O. And he continued to make and release music right up until his death, including 2024’s Cellophane Memories which featured the late Badalamenti on synths.
He was also well known for using unique sound design in his films, building his own studio to do so, and for using popular music in different ways to aid the storytelling. Given his passion for all things sound, it is therefore no surprise that Lynch was a huge fan of another audiophile, the legendary ‘Godfather of Grunge’ himself, Neil Young.
As far back as 1982, Young made his musical Human Highway, co-directing with Dean Stockwell, and starring the moody musician, who enlisted the likes of Dennis Hopper and Devo to appear. Young spent some $3million of his own money to get the film made, shooting over the course of three years in San Francisco.
A bizarre tale of a car mechanic dreaming of being a rock star, unaware he is living on the last day of Earth thanks to an impending nuclear holocaust, the film didn’t go down well with critics or audiences on release. But it was nevertheless widely felt to be a big influence on David Lynch’s subsequent TV and movie work, with dayglo colours, surreal scenes and many of the film’s cast going on to make appearances in Lynch films, including Stockwell and Hopper.
Lynch never directly addressed the rumours; however, he did admit to falling in love with one of Young’s later albums when he spoke to music site Analogue Planet just a few months before he passed away. When told about parallels with Young as a guitar player, Lynch exclaimed, “Oh my God, no no no! But thank you. I’m absolutely crazy about his album Le Noise. It’s just phenomenal. I think that’s one of the best I’ve heard. It’s a beautiful, powerful sound he’s got there—just incredible.”
Le Noise was recorded at producer Daniel Lanois’ Californian home and features songs that were written by Young as far back as 1975, when he was recording his classic album Zuma. Originally, it was due to be an acoustic album, but once sessions began, the musician felt that many of the songs suited the electric guitar better and switched. It was well-received on its release, making several ‘Best of the Year’ polls and charting in both the UK and US top 20 album charts.
