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The second in a series of album reviews. The focus will be on new releases or classic albums that I still listen to and enjoy today. My taste in music covers all genres and time periods, but few albums can last the ravages of time and retain their potency and magic.

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Review Number: 2
Review Date: 15 July 2013

Album: The Big Dream
Artist: David Lynch
Country: USA
Release Date: 2013
Genres: Alternative, Modern Blues

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Montana’s most unusual export delivers his second solo album of dark visions, auto-tune dreamscapes and homage to blues and 50s rock.

Lynch was famously called ‘Jimmy Stewart from Mars’ (by The Elephant Man executive producer Stuart Cornfeld, not Mel Brooks) and his folksy demeanour is sincere. But every now and then people can dream big and with a black heart.

For diehard fans (like myself) The Big Dream presents audio pleasure and familiar tales of love and weirdness. The whole listening experience conjures up images of Twin Peaks – beauty in danger, heartbreak and an ambience of hidden menace that no one else can seem to capture.

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“Crank up that radio, let me tell y’all a story
They’re coming from all around, flying down that wide highway
Coming like crowds like never before
Her being the one they can’t wait to see.”

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“Star Dream Girl” rocks with a reassuring tempo and “Cold Wind Blowin’” evokes the haunting loss of love. Lynch constantly obsesses about the blurring of lines between reality and dreams in his films, and this also crosses over into his music.

A cover version of the Bob Dylan classic “The Ballad of Hollis Brown” grows on you. The murderous intent and ‘death rattle’ of a South Dakota farmer propelled by the relentless beat and impending despair.

Potential new recruits may not be blown away by anything here, but Lynch doesn’t aim to set the world on fire with this offering. Just enjoy the ride and a slice of eerie Americana.

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