LOS ANGELES (AP) 鈥� If you listen to Chrystabell & new album, there鈥檚 a good chance that it will make you dream.
Not that 鈥淐ellophane Memories,鈥� the latest collaboration between the auteur and his 鈥淭win Peaks: The Return鈥� will put you to sleep 鈥� although its moody, ethereal sound might help you chill out.
The Oscar-nominated surrealist director behind 鈥淢ulholland Drive鈥� and 鈥淏lue Velvet鈥� has long stressed the importance of taking time to let your imagination wander, particularly when it comes to creating art.
He and Chrystabell help listeners achieve that state of contemplative wonder with their latest 10-track collaboration. It鈥檚 difficult to categorize 鈥淐ellophane Memories鈥� within a genre, but it consists of austere lyrics and ambient soundscapes carried by Chrystabell's hypnotic, reverbed vocals.
Although Lynch is known more widely for filmmaking, this is hardly the director鈥檚 first foray into music, nor is it his first project with Chrystabell. The pair have collaborated in various capacities for decades, beginning with the song 鈥淧olish Poem,鈥� which was featured on Lynch's 2006 film, 鈥淚nland Empire.鈥�
Produced and written by Lynch and engineered by Chrystabell, the album is Lynch鈥檚 first since his longtime creative partner died in 2022. The late composer contributed to two tracks 鈥� 鈥淪he Knew鈥� and 鈥淪o Much Love鈥� 鈥� which are both carried by Badalamenti's synthesizer.
The album is a sonic feast that, like so many of Lynch鈥檚 films, challenges modern attention spans. Listening to 鈥淐ellophane Memories鈥� feels like doing yoga, or perhaps transcendental meditation. The impulse to find additional stimuli in the moment is strong, but the result, if you can stick it out, is a feeling of rejuvenation and boosted creative energy.
Much of the album sounds like it could have come straight from 鈥淭win Peaks鈥�; one wonders if its title is a nod to the series' ultimate dead girl Laura Palmer being found wrapped in plastic. 鈥淐ellophane Memories鈥� even occasionally employs the familiar, backward dialogue effect used in to turn Chrystabell's vocals into a kind of haunting instrument 鈥� like on the brooding 鈥淩eflections in a Blade.鈥�
Hopeful and longing, at times disturbing and even seedy (particularly 鈥淭he Answers to the Questions,鈥� thanks to its slowed tempo and foregrounded percussion), the album vacillates between light and darkness 鈥� themes Lynch has throughout his career been keen to explore. His simpatico relationship with Chrystabell, whose creative use and mixing of her own voice elevates 鈥淐ellophane Memories,鈥� is palpable in this record.
Krysta Fauria, The Associated Press
