We've Made the Soundtrack for the New 'Twin Peaks' (Even Though No One Asked Us)

The contested rumour pirouetting around the internet this week that David Lynch may be greasing up to film a further episode of Twin Peaks has been met with various shades of glee, bruised personal offence, and shrill consternation. In the final episode, Laura Palmer tells Agent Cooper that she will see him again in 25 years aka 2014, which, coincidentally is this year we’re in right now.

The entire plot of Twin Peaks takes place over four weeks in 1989 and four sleepless weeks of my life where there was no time for food bar eating the limescale from the kettle for sustenance. I won’t go into the familiar pedagogic rant at non-viewers which equates watching Twin Peaks with ‘Nam and goes something along the lines of - “you ain’t been there, you ain’t seen what I’ve seen”. But, you know, if you’re picking between watching this on Netflix or checking out the new series of Silent Witness, you know my recommendation.

Anyway, the casting call which fueled the rumors of a new episode reportedly pines for a- “HOT Caucasian girl – BRUNETTE OR REDHEADS ONLY to play waitress. Age 18-27. MUST have an amazing body. Busty, very period looking face.” It sounds suspiciously like David might have just met Christina Hendricks’ younger sister in a bar once and this is all a convoluted ploy to get her number.

There’s no confirmation that the casting call is real, with co-creator Mark Frost taking to Twitter to deny that there would be new filming. But most believe there’s definitely going to be some new Twin Peaks material - possibly a Blu-Ray release with previously unseen footage - to mark the show’s anniversary. Whatever the deal is, it’s enough of an excuse to take a look at the bizarre and brilliant music of Twin Peaks.

Director David Lynch and composer Angelo Badalamenti’s partnerships is one of the great cinematic bromances, like Alfred Hitchcock and Bernard Hermann, Sergio Leone and Ennio Morricone, or more recently, Cliff Martinez’s soundtrack for Nicolas Winding Refn’s otherwise overrated Drive. As with all great soundtracks, Twin Peaks’ menstruating score is so synaesthetic with the visual content that it is impossible to extricate the two. The composer, Angelo Badalamenti, devised music for loads of Lynch-pins, including Wild At Heart, Mulholland Drive and Lost Highway, and described his relationship with the director as “the second best marriage in the world” (first place was him and his wife). Awwwwww. In this video he describes how him and Lynch created the award-winning Twin Peaks soundtrack, making it sound as easy as coughing, and demonstrating that improvisation doesn’t always have to mean The Grateful Dead.

If you needed anymore proof that you want this man to be your grandad and teach you the cello, even The Queen is a fan, and once opted out of having Paul McCartney performing a set of his greatest hits for her in favour of sitting in the loggia and watching the Log Lady do her thing. Seriously, this is true.

In case Twin Peaks’ cherry pie got elbowed out of your dietary regimen by Walter White’s more slimming crystal meth, I’ve made a few aural post-its of some of my favourite music bits from the show, all of which are infinitely less horrific than Bastille’s single “Laura Palmer”.

"JUST YOU"

At first seeming to mimic a saccharine 50s prom anthem, “Just You” soundtracks the demise of the night, when your corsage is mulching and your hymen is sadly intact. IDK I haven’t been to prom. Written by Lynch, the song soundtracks a curdled love triangle between James, Maddy and Donna in Season 2. The uneasy falsetto seems really improbable coming from James Marshalls’ doe-eyed GI Joe, and was a clear predecessor to Lynch’s gossamer song with Lykke Li.

"BLUE FRANK"

From the film Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me, "Blue Frank" by David Lynch ricochets in a completely different direction to most of the Twin Peaks music, with a pawing bassline that sounds a bit like what might have happened if Arthur Russell had joined Jesus Lizard and a lot like Jack White might have ripped it off on "Aluminium".

"SYCAMORE TREES"

If this doesn’t make you cry you shouldn’t be allowed a pension. That sounds hyperbolic but we have loads of chocolate in the office and it’s toying with my moods. “Little” Jimmy Scott was born with a rare genetic condition called Kallman’s syndrome which, among other things, meant he never went through puberty, but bestowed him with an amazing contralto voice. A favourite of artists such as Billie Holiday, he was elbowed under the radar for decades, emerging from obscurity when he sung backing vocals on a Lou Reed track and performed “Sycamore Trees” in the final Twin Peaks episode. He has performed with Antony and The Johnsons and the mental image I have conjured of him and Antony Hegarty holding hands and watching the Moomins is lovely. This soothed me until I saw that there is a German black metal cover of it, how can one nation be responsible for the heresy of currywurst and this?

Finally, if Lynch does unleash a new episode on the world, or even short shoehorned new content for the imminent Blu-Ray release, it will not only immaculately conceive the next generation of Film and Media Studies dissertations, but hopefully contain the itchy synthscapes and fermented melodies that cement the soundtrack’s enduring appeal. In case David Lynch is very busy tending his tall hair and genius, I have devised a barbarously culled playlist for him of songs made since 1992’s Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me that would fit right in on any 2014 Twin Peaks release.

DAVID, CALL ME FOR THE OTHER 79 SONGS ON THIS PLAYLIST

The Narcissist ft Inga Copeland- Dean Blunt

Kobwebs- Gaslamp Killer & Gonjasufi

It’s Choade My Dear - Connan Mockasin

Heart - Darkside

You Know What I Mean- Cults

Desert Sand- Beach Fossils

See Birds (Moon)- Balam Acab

Love Fade- Tamaryn

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