David Lynch, Pop Singer

Music isn't exactly a new pursuit for David Lynch (director of Mulholland Drive, Blue Velvet, Twin Peaks, etc.). He and longtime collaborator Angelo Badalamenti teamed up to write the songs for Julee Cruise's spooky lounge-pop album Floating Into the Night more than 20 years ago, and also wrote a musical play called Industrial Symphony No. 1. Still, his latest effort is a bit of a surprise, a pretty, moody microhouse track that actually features Lynch's processed voice making very Lynchian laments: "So tired of fire/ So tired of smoke," "So tired of fear, so tired of dark." The hopeful, plaintive chorus -- "I wanna have a good day today" -- is likewise in line with the wide-eyed naivete that has always coexisted in his films with the grotesque and perverse. And, you can dance to it.