The soundtrack for Twin Peaks: Limited Event Series (or Twin Peaks: The Return) is more than just a collection of music—it’s an experience that lingers in the air like the eerie glow of a neon sign on a foggy highway. Released alongside the highly anticipated third season of Twin Peaks in 2017, the album serves as both a nostalgic callback to the original series and an unsettling evolution of its sonic landscape.
The Sound of Dreams and Nightmares
Angelo Badalamenti, David Lynch’s longtime musical collaborator, returns to weave his signature atmospheric magic. Tracks like “Laura Palmer’s Theme” and “Twin Peaks Theme” reappear, their melancholic beauty intact, but now they feel like ghosts of themselves—haunting echoes of a past long buried. Badalamenti’s compositions remain the emotional spine of the series, reinforcing the sense of tragic beauty that defined Laura Palmer’s story.
Yet, this is not merely a rehash of old motifs. The soundtrack expands into uncharted, experimental territory. Compositions like “Slow 30’s Room” and “The Fireman” feel less like traditional music and more like transmissions from another dimension—ambient, droning, and deeply unsettling. These pieces encapsulate the disorienting time shifts and existential dread that The Return thrives on.
The Roadhouse: A Stage for Memory and Melancholy
One of the most inspired elements of The Return was its use of live performances at the Roadhouse. Lynch curated an eclectic mix of artists that feel oddly at home in Twin Peaks’ surreal world. Chromatics’ “Shadow” sets the tone early, evoking nostalgia with its dreamy synths and detached vocals. Rebekah Del Rio’s “No Stars” is a gut-wrenching moment of pure sorrow, while The Nine Inch Nails’ “She’s Gone Away” injects a dose of raw, industrial menace into the mix.
Other standout tracks include Sharon Van Etten’s “Tarifa” and Au Revoir Simone’s “Lark”—both ethereal and introspective, reinforcing the themes of longing and the passage of time. These performances often feel like they exist in an in-between space—part dream, part memory, part fading reality.
Darkness, Beauty, and the Unknowable
Perhaps the most striking aspect of this soundtrack is how it mirrors The Return itself. It is at once familiar and alien, comforting and terrifying. The inclusion of Lynch and Dean Hurley’s avant-garde sound design elements (“The Chair”, “Headless Chicken”) furthers the uneasy atmosphere, creating soundscapes that feel like the hum of electricity in the void.
This is not a soundtrack that caters to easy listening. It is a carefully curated sonic experiment, an extension of Twin Peaks’ ever-deepening mysteries. It reminds us that in Lynch’s world, music is never just background noise—it is a living, breathing entity, as essential as the red curtains and black coffee.
Final Verdict
The Twin Peaks: Limited Event Series Soundtrack is a masterclass in atmosphere and mood, perfectly capturing the eerie, dreamlike quality of Lynch’s world. It rewards deep listening, revealing layers of emotion and unease with every spin. Whether you’re a longtime Twin Peaks fan or just love music that straddles the line between beauty and terror, this soundtrack is a journey worth taking—just be careful where it leads you.
REVIEW BY RUE MORGUE RECORDS