The Music of Twin Peaks: The Return: Lissie

David Lynch loves music as much as Andy loves Lucy, and it's reflected in the soundtrack for Showtime's Twin Peaks: The Return. Most of the episodes end with a band performing at the Bang Bang Bar aka The Roadhouse, the local bar in the city of Twin Peaks.

In an ongoing weekly series of exclusive interviews, KEXP's resident Twin Peaks expert DJ Morgan will chat with the show's music director Dean Hurley. Hurley has collaborated extensively with David Lynch on sound design and music, and since 2005, has operated Asymmetrical Studio, Lynch's recording studio and film dubbing facility located in the Hollywood Hills. Tune in every Monday at 8:00 AM PT to The Morning Show on KEXP, as Morgan and John Richards air excerpts from her chats with Hurley. View previous chats in the series here on the KEXP Blog.

Tonight's episode ends with a performance from Lissie. Hurley tells us:

Lissie was definitely one of the acts that David wanted involved from the beginning. He’s been a big fan of hers for years and discovered her by a series of videos she posted on YouTube covering Lady Gaga, Metallica, etc. This was 2010, I believe. It was definitely a learning lesson for me because seeing how he found out about her was one of the solidifying moments where I saw what was important to him in terms of his experience of music and what thrills him. No one would necessarily listen to Lissie and say ‘this would be great in a David Lynch film,’ which is why only he could bring someone like her into his work. I don’t want to speak for him, but I think it’s obvious what he responds to in her: she is an incredibly emotive performer who completely embodies her music and gives everything. It’s probably the same thing that guides his desire to cast certain actors for certain roles… he’s looking for a super strong emotive core which can illustrate and get across big feelings to a viewer… for the roles that require that (and there’s always a bunch of these types of roles in his work). David doesn’t attend a lot of concerts, but when she came through LA years back, he wanted to go. I can’t emphasize how rare that is for him to want to go out to a show. An artist like Lissie thrives in the live performance arena, she’s one of these people that almost can’t be contained on a recording because she’s the fullest realization of herself live. He raved about the show and particularly raved about the power and volume of the venue. When performance, emotion, and volume all come together in an optimal way, the artist’s idea is translated with a certain power… and that is what David works so hard at crafting and getting right in his own work. Volume is the only thing that he can’t control in the realm of television, so I know I can speak for him on this front: watch Twin Peaks loud and on a good sound system! The experience will be richer as a result.

On September 8th, Rhino will release two soundtrack collections: Twin Peaks (Music From the Limited Event Series) featuring performances from The Roadhouse and Twin Peaks (Limited Event Series Original Soundtrack) featuring the score by composer Angelo Badalamenti.