Blue Velvet (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)

About

“Lynchian” is one of those bywords that evokes a lot without saying much, so why not just go to the source? Angelo Badalamenti had originally been flown to the set of <i>Blue Velvet</i> as a singing coach for Isabella Rossellini and ended up working with David Lynch for more than 30 years. You can’t picture “Lynchian” without also hearing it. Released in 1986 and expanded for its 40th anniversary, the soundtrack to the pivotal <i>Blue Velvet</i>—the story of a seemingly innocent college student sucked into the undertow of his small, seemingly innocent American town—has all the hallmarks of Badalamenti’s style. There’s menacing dissonance (<b>“Frank Returns”</b>), melodramatic beauty (<b>“Mysteries of Love (French Horn Solo)”</b>), seductive touches of noir (<b>“Night Streets/Sandy and Jeffrey”</b>), and fake-sounding jazz (<b>“Akron Meets the Blues”</b>), all in a shifting balance between light and dark. Of course, the soundtrack would be nothing without its use of Ketty Lester’s <b>“Love Letters”</b> and Roy Orbison’s <b>“In Dreams,”</b> two slow-dance-style ballads from the early 1960s used in the film to bracing, horrifying effect; and the haunting, New-Agey <b>“Mysteries of Love,”</b> written with Lynch for the vocalist Julee Cruise.

via Apple Music