Fans of Twin Peaks' haunting soundtrack will find much to love in this record, a remarkable thematic counterpart to David Lynch's classic investigative drama and genuine oddity given the pop landscape of the period. Floating Into the Night was released in '89, following on the heels of Lynch's seminal work, but you'd be hard pressed to place it alongside records typical of that (or indeed any other) era. Working alongside Angelo Badalamenti as co-songwriter and producer, Lynch constructs a rich tapestry of processed sound, occupying a bizarre space between lounge, jazz, and dream pop. The layering of Badalamenti's synthesisers - often accompanied by pointedly minimalist rhythm tracks - amounts to an audiophiles' heaven, as precise melodies glide across the sonic landscape with warm clarity.
Julee Cruise is largely employed as a counterweight to this heady concoction, sitting at the forefront of the mix with her delicate, largely understated vocals. Lyrics, however, carry much of the intrigue of the record and, being penned by Lynch, they evoke many of the emotions contained in his visual work. His songs typically tell tales of romantic yearning, each coloured with vivid references to nature, darkness and "the mysteries of love". The quality of Lynch's writing is made apparent when married to both Badalamenti's imaginative synth work and Cruise's plaintive singing voice, the latter achieving a fertile middle-ground between childlike innocence and dazzling conviction.
Early highlight 'I Remember' is delightfully measured and refined in execution, but ripples its otherwise still pool with the pure, unbridled emotion in Cruise's delivery. Both here and across the entire record, the basic ingredients are light to the touch. Melodies ooze out at a languid pace and each song typically follows a fairly predictable verse-chorus-verse structure. This predictability soothes rather than bores, however, and acts as the blank canvas for Lynch and Badalamenti's colourful experimentation behind the mixing decks. An unusual chemistry is revealed at points throughout the record when Cruise's intoxicating dream world slips away to reveal wild, fleeting darkness. One such case occurs during the conclusion of 'I Remember', when a simple key change provides the song with its melancholy climax, suddenly transforming the tone from light to dark. The way that Floating Into the Night contorts its landscape so gracefully in this way, always grasping for the expected and very often reaching it, lies at the heart of its peculiar appeal.
The most captivating section of the record comes midway through its second half, with 'The Nightingale' and its thematic partner, 'The Swan'. On the former, Cruise's voice gently flutters over music so tasteful and refined it faintly resembles elevator music, despite its alien form. Despite what you might expect, against this smooth backdrop Cruise's words ("The nightingale, it flew to me, and told me it had found my love") are enlivened, her longing exaggerated by the dramatic saxophone and plodding bass that unfurl around her. By the time we drift into 'The Swan', this smoothness has taken on a surreal pallor, edging towards a dark strain of psychedelia. On this song, another breathy vocal from Cruise meanders over a relatively formless structure. Her dark tale of a dying swan seems disconnected from reality, with Badalamenti's discordant synthesisers driving the listener into a world of wavering boundaries and formless beauty.
After this mystical ten minute foray, 'The World Spins' returns to the compositional formula established on the first side, closing the record on an almighty high. A song utilised in a fantastically moving scene in Lynch's series, it places ghostly vocals shoulder-to-shoulder with another moody, dramatic instrumental. The starved agony of Lynch's lyrics - which portray a lovestruck protagonist's battle against time ("Halley's comet's come and gone, the things I touch are made of stone, Falling through this night alone"...) - is reflected gracefully by Cruise, who turns in her strongest performance yet. She effectively drags the unease of the record's previous forty minutes into the open, leaving it poised in pure, delicate glory. On this bittersweet note Floating Into the Night does what its title suggests, leaving unique beauty quietly shimmering in its wake.