JULEE CRUISE _FALL _FLOAT- _LOVE (Works 1989- 1993) (Cherry Red) 2 x CD (2025)

Julee Cruise (1956 – 2022): WIRE magazine said that Julee fitted into “the David Lynch world with her peroxide shock and rockette makeup.” Aside from the image, she also proved to be perfect for the enigmatic psychodrama “Twin Peaks” with her vocal murmurs and voluptuous tones. I am an admirer of the “Twin Peaks” soundtrack and familiar with her debut album “Floating into the Night” (1989) which contains the most famous piece ‘Flying’. David Lynch was already an accomplished songwriter who had written for Nina Simone and others and the music was saturated with reverb at times, with glistening synths and glissandos. “The Voice of Love” (1993) was, by all accounts the more adventurous of the two and featured Herbie Hancock’s sideman Buster Williams on bass with use of reverse echoes and other studio tricks to create a highly charged but ultimately tranquillizing (Julee’s voice) atmosphere, sudden hits of the snare drum punctuating the calm. On ‘I Remember’ from “Floating in the Night” some sultry sax enters only for a sudden change half way through with a repetitive piano motif alongside some dislocated drumming and doo-wop singing, typical of the idiosyncratic oeuvre of the music. ‘Rockin’ Back Inside My Head’ on the other hand recalls the innocence of childhood, a relative of the song ‘Mocking Bird’ perhaps, with Lynch’s orchestrations providing a lush backdrop. Sadly, David Lynch passed this year and this collection is a fitting testimony to his achievements in film and music.