Rhino, out now

The many acts from The Bang Bang Bar roadhouse in Twin Peaks’ third series get an airing on this compilation of dreamy synths, Badalamenti standards and 50s throwbacks.

The use of pop songs in David Lynch projects has always been exemplary, always fitting just right and not because the studio had a new artist or single to promote. Chris Isaak’s Wicked Game gained huge prominence following its inclusion in Wild at Heart and Julee Cruise’s career took off after her vocal version of the Twin Peaks theme, Falling, charted around the world. The assumption was that Cruise would be providing the same chanteuse duties this time round, but instead Lynch has chosen young, new acts that fit perfectly in the Lynch audio universe.

Julee Cruise isn’t entirely forgotten, with a re-recording of her The World Spins from Ep 17, and series composer Badalamenti is featured in a new edit of the main theme and a new version of James Marshall’s Just You (Ep 13). Is anything in the roadhouse real? The unlikely inclusion of James Marshall and big name acts like the Nine Inch Nails and Eddie Vedder (as Edward Louis Severson) suggests otherwise, but Lynch is characteristically tight-lipped.

The Chromatics are the epitome of Lynchian dreamy synth pop, playing Shadow from Ep 2, and Au Revoir Simone’s Lark (Ep 4) is an obvious stable-mate. Contemporary group The Cactus Blossoms sing 50s style country songs, with their Mississippi (Ep 3) being nicely paired with The Paris Sisters’ I Live How You Love Me feeling like it has been ripped out of Blue Velvet.

Snake Eyes by Trouble (featuring Lynch’s son Riley on guitar) is a grungy track  (Ep 4) reminiscent of the club tracks in Fire Walk With Me, Sharon Van Etten’s Tarifa is a country soul ballad (Ep 6)  and Nine Inch Nails (She’s Gone Away in divisive Ep 8 ) performed a track from their Not the Actual Events EP – lead singer Trent Reznor previously having worked with Lynch on the Lost Highway soundtrack.

The Platters’ 50s version of My Prayer again feels like a track from Blue Velvet, followed by Rebekah Del Rio singing the beautiful No Stars (backed by ambit in Ep 10), having memorably provided Llorando in Mulholland Drive. Shawn Colvin’s version of Viva Las Vegas satisfies the Dougie quotient of the album and there’s another classic track in Booker T and the MGs’ Green Onions. Lissie performs a Roadhouse Mix of her Wild West track (Ep 14) and ZZ Top classic Sharp Dressed Man from 1983’s Eliminator gets an airing.

There’s another Roadhouse Mix, this time of The Veils’ Axolotl (Ep 15), and Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder performs his acoustic guitar song Out of Sand (Ep 16), the album rounded off by Otis Redding’s live performance of I’ve Been Loving You Too Long and Cruise’s aforementioned The World Spins

Verdict: An eclectic mix of tracks by Lynch’s progeny (in one case, literally), previous collaborators and songs from the 50s, this is an essential musical memento of Twin Peaks third season. 9/10

Nick Joy