The music of Twin Peaks was my gateway to the town I’ve loved for more than three decades. Years later, I discovered the magicians who transformed Angelo Badalamenti’s works into the sounds I adore. One magic maker is Lori Eschler who worked as a Music Editor for the first two seasons of the show and on David Lynch’s 1992 film, Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me. This unsung hero worked closely with Lynch developing the musical language of the wonderful and strange story. Now, Eschler returns with her own new music released under the band name LXD, a collaboration with founding member of San Francisco’s Steel Pole Bath Tub, Dale Flattum.
WHO ARE LORI ESCHLER AND DALE FLATTUM FROM LXD?
According to their bio on Bandcamp.com, LXD is a collaboration between Montana natives Lori Eschler and Dale Flattum who “were lured to Seattle’s underground scene in the early 1980s and after three decades apart have reconnected to create ‘A Cosmic Industrial Love Story.'” This new album fuses Lori’s manipulated piano and cello loops with textures Dale builds from tape loops, found sounds, guitar and vocals. The result is a soundtrack to reconnection.
Eschler graduated from Billings Senior High School and Montana State University in Bozeman. She was 30 years old when she served as Music Editor for Twin Peaks. Living in Los Angeles since 1986, her friend Jon Huck, who served as the sound recordist for the pilot, introduced Lori to fellow Montana-native David Lynch.
“I worked with David for over three years on Twin Peaks, Fire Walk With Me, On The Air (pilot), several television ads, and some exploration of ideas for the music that might define Ronnie Rocket,” Lori shared in a Wire profile of her and composer Big Dean Hurley.
For that article in June 2025, Lori created an hour-long “Twin Peaks Mix” which is available on Mixcloud.
“This mix illustrates how the music of Twin Peaks has influenced and inspired songwriters, musicians, and composers. I’ve included examples from Twin Peaks to highlight the correlation,” explained Eschler.
“I used several cues that were created for the film and the series by manipulating Angelo [Badalamenti]’s music. The techniques I developed while working with David have informed my own musical style. The tracks I’m sharing of my recent work are from an upcoming release of ‘A Cosmic Industrial Love Story,’ a collaboration with [musician] Dale Flattum called (LXD). I have also included several songs by songwriters who were inspired by both the story and the music of ‘Twin Peaks.’ This mix takes a nostalgic journey through moods and textures reminiscent of the work of David Lynch and Angelo Badalamenti with deep respect to every person who ever worked with them to make their visions happen, every scholar that documented the work, and to the fans who keep the work alive.”
Dale Flattum is an artist and musician who “spends his time creating posters, art forgeries, and other screen printed propaganda under the alias: TOOTH.” He pursued a career in music, touring the world for more than nine years with San Francisco rock bands Steel Pole Bath Tub, Tumor Circus and Milk Cult.
After touring worldwide, he moved to Raleigh, North Carolina, to focus on his artwork. Flattum has created hundreds of rock posters for acts such as the Melvins, Mudhoney, The Decemberists, and Faith No More. He currently runs a screen printing studio and works as a graphic designer in Minneapolis. You can find him on Instagram at @ThrillPagan.
Lori shared a post about Novex, another project by her LXD collaborator. This side project paired Dale with fellow Steel Pole Bath Tub member Dorothy Kent, and can be found on Bandcamp.com.
WHAT IS “A COSMIC INDUSTRIAL LOVE STORY” FROM LXD?
Lori and Dale spent most of 2025 working on their new album but it was David Lynch’s passing in mid-January that inspired its creation.
“It was totally inspired,” Lori shared with me through an unexpected note. “A few days after David died, I reconnected with Dale, who I hadn’t seen since the hiatus between season 1 and 2 of Twin Peaks. In early February, he flew to California to see me and helped me set up a simple recording studio for my piano and cello. I then downloaded Audacity, an open source music software. I hadn’t played or edited in years.”
In the weeks after David’s passing, there was such an outpouring of love for the artist. I truly believe his creative spirit filled the hearts and minds of those who loved him. Lynch’s energy may have guided Eschler and Flattum as they worked quickly on the new album.
“We started writing and recording together immediately and had three pieces down in a couple of days,” continued Eschler. “We then worked mostly remotely with a couple of visits to his studio in Minneapolis and finished 11 pieces in under three months. It just poured out. We were both astonished. We mixed and then chose eight pieces for the album originally planning to self release on vinyl. After sharing with some record industry friends, we were encouraged to seek a good fit with a label. We are in that stage now.”
Eschler and Flattum have been friends for more than 45 years.
“This first album is abstract soundtrack about our lifelong connection first made in 1980 and the events and challenges that keep bringing us together,” she explained.
On June 27, 2025, LXD released “(LXD) – The Single” from their new album “A Cosmic Industrial Love Story.” Dale and Lori recorded the album in dining rooms, bedrooms, bathrooms and sunrooms in Minneapolis, MN and Palm Springs, CA respectively. The album contains two songs: “Was I Dreaming?” and “Let There Be Flowers.”
The album was mastered by Greg Reierson from Rare Form Mastering in Minneapolis, MN. He’s spent nearly four decades working in the audio industry with a full time focus on audio mastering since 1989. In that time, he’s mastered more than 10,000 commercially released albums for a diverse group of local, national and international artists.
A few days later on July 4, 2025, their album “A Cosmic Industrial Love Story” was released on Bandcamp. Here is the track listing, which includes two tracks from their previous single album.
- Was I Dreaming?
- Alone With You
- Spokane World’s Fair 1974
- 1,899 Miles
- Dub Night
- Red Thread
- Trains of San Antonio
- Let’s Be The Flowers
The album is exactly the kind of music that transports me to a focused, creative space (I had it on repeat while writing this article). Fellow long-time Twin Peaks fan and author Scott Ryan, who published “Always Music in the Air: The Sounds of Twin Peaks,” also described LXD’s new release.
“A Cosmic Industrial Love Story will give Twin Peaks fans a familiar feeling and then will set them free on a whole new journey … It’s like visiting an old friend who tells a new story.”
To complement the release, they are offering a sticker pack with five different stickers, including one of “TOOTH,” Dale Flattum’s alias.
SOCIAL MEDIA POSTS ABOUT LXD
Since February 2025, Lori Eschler has teased development of her new album with Dale via a series of Instagram posts.
Lori Eschler first announced her new collaboration with Dale Flattum via Instagram on Feb. 20, 2025. She wrote, “I’m excited to be collaborating on my first music project in many years. The most fun work since Twin Peaks.”
By May 11, 2025, Eschler shared the logo for her band LXD via Instagram along with a tease to her new album’s name: “There will be more music in the world soon. Links pending #cosmicindustriallovestory #(LXD)”
A week later on May 18, Lori shared photos of a graffiti-covered wooden wall with the LXD logo. She states she never had a publicist before and that things were “getting exciting” as the LXD album was also done being mixed.
As May ended, Lori shared “Cosmic Industrial Love Story” was almost done being mastered and that links to purchase would be available soon.
Lori shared a first look at the artwork created by Dale for their new album.
A behind-the-scenes look at the low-tech recording session was offered in this Instagram video post from Lori on June 11.
Lori posted about her Wire interview and Twin Peaks-inspired mix on June 22, 2025.
The first single from LXD’s album was announced on June 25. It would be available starting on June 27.
Congratulations to Lori and Dale on their new album! I can’t wait to see what you do next.
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