Julee Cruise
The Voice Of Love

Her voice is a whisper, perhaps an illusion born inside a dream. So intangible that it induces a temporary relaxation in the listener before a vague sense of unease inevitably sets in sooner or later. She, Julee Cruise, was hired by Angelo Badalamenti for these very characteristics in 1986, and the result, the track "Mysteries of Love", became part of the soundtrack of the film "Blue Velvet" by David Lynch.

Lynch, Badalamenti, Cruise: the alliance continues over the years and materializes in Cruise's debut album, "Floating Into The Night" (1989), in the soundtrack of the TV series Twin Peaks (1990), and in the second album of the ethereal American singer, "The Voice Of Love", released in 1993.

Eleven tracks, 52 minutes of music, a formula that perhaps starts showing some signs of fatigue. Julee Cruise moves with ethereal grace through the soundscapes created by Badalamenti with his soft keyboards; electric bass or double bass and light touches on the drums sometimes give the impression of being in a club ready to entertain patrons with soothing jazz in the background; and the guitar interventions are as occasional as they are discreet.

Thus, the opening track, "This Is Our Night", and the three that follow: a sparse and subdued musical style that, combined with Cruise's delicate voice, paradoxically generates tension. The subsequent "Up In Flames" and "Kool Kat Walk" are tasked with breaking the hypnotic and enchanting atmosphere that has been created, the first with jazz-influenced atmospheres (and some unsettling siren howl in the background), the second with nervous hints of piano and guitar and a unique iterative structure, almost like a chant.

The rest of the album follows the stylistic coordinates already encountered in the beginning, but among the best results is the delicate and almost otherworldly "Questions In A World Of Blue" (already featured in the soundtrack of the film "Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me", 1992) which alone could encapsulate a musical definition of Julee Cruise. She sings of love throughout the tracks of this album, but the noble theme is tightly intertwined with the twisted imagination of David Lynch (to whose fans this album is thus recommended), who penned the lyrics and the skeletal sculpture depicted on the cover image.