aaamusic | On 30, Sep 2011

Marking a departure from his revered and influential musical collaborations in the past with Angelo Badalamenti (Twin Peaks), Polish pianist Marek Zebrowski (Inland Empire), and Sparklehorse and Danger Mouse (Dark Night of the Soul), David Lynch now reveals his first solo musical project, with the release of Crazy Clown Time on Sunday Best Recordings on November 7.

Recorded over a year at his own studio with engineer Dean Hurley (who also contributes guitar and drums), “Crazy Clown Time” unveils a majestic, yet powerfully idiosyncratic vision of “modern blues” that could only be drawn from the mind of David Lynch. Filled with foreboding soundscapes, hypnotic rhythms and enigmatic lyrics, this is music that will resonate not only with fans of Lynch’s films, but also to listeners who appreciate daring, experimental music.

Listeners may have caught the potent one-two punch of “Good Day Today” and “I Know” towards the end of last year, but those tracks only hint at what’s in store on the album, as it twists and turns and detours in all manner of strange and unpredictable directions, taking in tales of doomed romance and dark revenge. For starters, kicking things off in raucous, deliciously twisted fashion is his collaboration with Karen O from the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, the thrumming, pummeling, punk-tinged head trip that is “Pinky’s Dream”, which Lynch himself aptly describes as “the horror and sadness of losing someone to other dimensions”.

From then on, the record opens up to include everything from the low-ended, brutal beauty of “Football Game”, to the sparse yet claustrophobic menace of “Speed Roadster” (where Lynch sings, “I guess you’d say that I’m stalkin’ you/ I might be stalkin’ you baby…maybe you’re happy/ but I hope you’re sad”), to the dance-driven, pounding, 7 minute epic that is “Strange and Unproductive Thinking”. The record however, closes on a note of sheer transcendent beauty on the moving “She Rise Up”, with Lynch’s wrenching lyrics of loss and redemption adrift in an amniotic haze of beats and shimmering synths, as if suspended in mid-air. It’s a breathtaking finale, and brings to a thrilling close one of the most singular albums you’re likely to hear all year. The fact that Lynch has somehow managed to seamlessly traverse these different genres on his musical debut, while still sounding, very recognizably, like nobody else, is a testament to his unique and unmistakable vision.

To shed more light on the album, here is a track by track guide to “Crazy Clown Time”, from David Lynch himself:

TRACKLISTING:

“Pinky’s Dream”
“The horror and sadness of losing someone to other dimensions.”

“Good Day Today”
“About being sick of negativity.”

“So Glad”
“This kind of feeling comes up from time to time in our lives. It doesn’t always have to do with people…”

“Noah’s Ark”
“About being saved by love.”

“Football Game”
“This sort of story is probably more than a daily occurrence in our world.”

“I Know”
“Facing the reality that comes as a result of our actions.”

“Strange and Unproductive Thinking”
“Speaks for itself”

“The Night Bell With Lightning”
“A blues song…and the title comes a bit from a line in a Kafka story.”

“Stone’s Gone Up”
“Something has happened”

“These are my Friends”
“The ones I see each day”

“Speed Roadster”
“A story of unrequited love near the piney woods”

“Movin’ On”
“The decision was so obvious…”

“She Rise Up”
“A modern story”

“Crazy Clown Time” is released November 7 on Sunday Best Recordings