Daily Jam - Shadow

This column was originally published at the end of the summer in 2017.

So, I’m writing this column before the finale of Twin Peaks: The Return, but as it will air before I post this sucker online, I’m going to say that I’m sure I was riveted and will be talking about it for days…as I pretty much have with every other episode in the last three months. The consensus has been that getting a third season of the show has been a gift, and I concur wholeheartedly. Lynch and Frost drew me in hard this summer, and I’ll admit to maybe being a little obsessed. Okay, being totally obsessed. And now it’s over. And I’m going to miss getting a new installment every Sunday. And one of the things I’m probably going to miss the most is seeing my (almost) weekly music performance from The Roadhouse (aka the Bang Bang Bar).

So many great (and sometimes unexpected) performances were featured on the series, each feeling as much a part of Lynch’s soundscape as Julee Cruise or Angelo Badalamenti. I discovered some new artists, some new tunes, gained a new appreciation for some old bands I’ve listened to for years, and am now pumped for the upcoming new soundtrack albums coming out later this month. And starting it off was one of my favorite bands from the last decade, the dreamy and wistful Johnny Jewel project, Chromatics, performing the wonderful “Shadow.”

Originally surfacing a couple of years ago and intended to be on the band’s new album Dear Tommy, I kind of forgot about it, as that album’s release date kept getting pushed back farther and farther. We’re still not sure when (or if) we’re going to get it (we didn't), but seeing the band play the song on Twin Peaks got me anxious with anticipation all over again. Dreamy synths, poppy, subdued disco beats, Ruth Radelet’s angelic and haunting vocals, and Jewel’s airy and retro production aesthetic create a sonic environment that pairs all too perfectly with Lynch’s own audio and visual world. I want them making art together forever.

But now it’s ended. And maybe we’re sated, or maybe our hearts hurt, or maybe we’re cueing the whole thing up to watch and hear and love all over again, but at the very least, we got to experience something special, an intoxicating mix of experimental filmmaking, warped narrative, and pop art, a magnum opus that could very much prove to be a defining moment for all of the artists creating it. It was wonderful to visit this world again.

“…for the last time…for the last time.”