The musician David Lynch says “goes to the stars”
There’s something otherworldly and uncanny about the filmmaking of David Lynch. Between the body horror of his early work in Eraserhead, the strange town of Twin Peaks, and the failed adaptation turned cult classic Dune, Lynch has honed a directorial flair so distinctive that his name has become an adjective well-known to cinephiles.
Though his storytelling and shooting form essential elements of that Lynchian style, so too does the music he chooses to accompany it. Lynch is a musician himself, having put out several solo albums since the dawn of the 21st century and providing the music for his early work, but he’s also honed a collaborative relationship with the late composer Angelo Badalamenti.
The pair first worked together on Lynch’s beloved 1986 film Blue Velvet, and Badalamenti went on to forge the sonic world of Twin Peaks and the score for 2001’s Mulholland Drive. Adapting to the weird and wonderful visions of Lynch, the composer elevated every project he came onto, with his soundtrack for Twin Peaks becoming particularly well-loved.
Lynch once shared his collaborative and creative process with Badalamenti, explaining how they worked together to hone suitable sonic worlds. “How it always works with Angelo and me,” he began during a conversation with the BBC, “I know the mood of a thing and the feel of a thing.”
The director explained how he would sit with Badalamenti while he worked, explaining the “feel” he was looking to create. The pair would go back and forth, Lynch further explaining his vision and providing amendments as Badalamenti attempted to capture it in song.
Eventually, the pair would land on the same page and then move on, “But because he caught the first thing, then in the world of music it’s logical that these other things follow, and he knows that and there they are and he brings them out, and there it is – no two ways about it.”
Lynch went on to suggest that Baladamenti went “to the stars” with his work. “He catches a thing and I’m there as his brother filling the air with this freedom and energy to get it,” he continued, “It’s so delicate, the early stages of everything is so delicate, and it just needs to be safe and packed with possibilities to Angelo can find it. Then, when he catches it’s so incredible, so incredible.”
It’s a statement that can be validated with just one listen to his work, which shimmers even without Lynch’s accompanying visuals. He was an incredible composer, one whose music truly sits amongst the stars.
Revisit the music he composed for Twin Peaks below.
