It's happening again. Sort of.
After a cryptic message shared on the social media platform X last week, David Lynch has announced exactly what it is we can "see and hear": a new album titled 'Cellophane Memories', with his past collaborator and 'Twin Peaks: The Return' star, Chrystabell.
Due to be released August 2, the first single, 'Sublime Eternal Love', was shared today alongside a music video.
Strange and haunting, in that trademark Lynchian way, the video features three Chrystabells singing to the camera, each flickering in and out of vision, harmonising with one another.
The lyrics are distorted and hard to decipher, licks of: “He fell down crying... calling out he cried... cried for understanding... and the noise turned to music.”
Having previously performed as the lead singer for a swing band called 8½ Souvenirs, Chrystabell, 46, was introduced to Lynch in 1999 by an agent. The two quickly hit it off and became frequent collaborators, beginning most notably with the soundtrack for Lynch's 2007 film Inland Empire (also his last film to date).
They then worked together on the singer's 2011 debut solo album 'The Train', which featured melodies to Lynch's poetry, and 2017's 'Somewhere in the Nowhere' - when Lynch also asked Chrystabell to appear in the third season of 'Twin Peaks' as Special Agent Tammy Preston.
Chrystabell has spoken very fondly of the Blue Velvet director and his "positive influence" on her life. In a 2017 interview with The Talkhouse, she said: “When my emotions are intense, [Lynch] helps me use them to reach deeper, to seize the gold that shimmers and sparkles but is just beyond my grasp."
While some fans might be disappointed, having hoped for a new film or TV project, it was always an unlikely prospect - especially considering how the director has spoken rather negatively about the film industry in recent years.
In a 2012 interview with the Hollywood Reporter, he said: "I think part of the reason ideas haven’t come in is that the world of cinema is changing so drastically, and in a weird way, feature films I think have become cheap. Everything is kind of throwaway."
There's still some hope that we might one day hear more about the rumoured 'Wisteria/Unrecorded Night' project that fuelled excitement in 2020, a supposed 13-part Netflix TV series shrouded in mystery - although 'Twin Peaks' fans were certain it was related somehow due to the 'Eat at Judy's' diner in the last season being located on Wisteria Street.
Still, it's great just to know that at 78-years-old, one of the greatest creative minds of our generation is still out there making works.
'Cellophane Memories' is available to pre-order now via Sacred Bones records, with the track list as follows:
1. 'She Knew'
2. 'The Sky Falls'
3. 'You Know The Rest'
4. 'So Much Love'
5. 'Two Lovers Kiss'
6. 'The Answers to the Questions'
7. 'With Small Animals'
8. 'Reflections in a Blade'
9. 'Dance of Light'
10. 'Sublime Eternal Love'
