Read this quote out loud in the voice of a creepy, dreamy giant: “It is happening again.” As Perry Eaton reported earlier, “Twin Peaks” will return in 2016 as a Showtime miniseries. One of the hallmarks of the original series was the way that producers David Lynch and Mark Frost used music to create the otherworldly atmosphere of Twin Peaks. This begs the question: which contemporary artists are best suited to the sonic landscape of Twin Peaks? Grab a cup of coffee; I have a few suggestions.
From his David Lynch-inspired coif to his habit of coming on stage to the “Twin Peaks Theme,” Dan Smith of Bastille clearly has the background (read: obsession) required to handle soundtracking Twin Peaks. I mean, the kid titled one of his songs “Laura Palmer.”
Singer-songwriter Julee Cruise’s airy, eerie vocals were an essential musical component–both on screen and off–to the Twin Peaks universe. So who is 2016’s answer to Ms. Cruise? I offer the equally ethereal Laura Marling, who not only shares her given name with Laura Palmer, but often channels Laura’s inner torment in her music.
Who else? There’s a band called Twin Peaks, but they don’t quite fit the vibe. Florida indie rockers Surfer Blood wrote a song called “Twin Peaks,” but it’s the wrong kind of edgy. Because there is an edge to Twin Peaks, but it’s a dark and murky edge. The kind of edge Mark Lanegan captures with his mumbling growl on “The Gravediggers Song.”
So maybe Mark Lanegan and his band backing Julee Cruise at a modern-day One Eyed Jack’s? Or perhaps Bastille teaming up with Angelo Badalamenti for a reimagining of the title theme? Whatever awaits us in the 2016 version of Twin Peaks, the music had better be just right.
