Whenever I hear Julee Cruise, I’m immediately transported to the moment I fell in love with David Lynch and Mark Frost’s Twin Peaks more than three decades ago. Her angelic voice served as my gateway to a world both wonderful and strange. Recently, United Kingdom-based independent record label Cherry Red Records released Cruise’s music from those early days on a CD titled, “Julee Cruise: Fall, Float, Love – Works 1989-1993.”
WHO IS CHERRY RED RECORDS?
Independent record label Cherry Red Records was founded in Malvern, Worcestershire by Iain McNay in 1978. Named after the title of a track from the Groundhogs ‘Split’ album, the company started as a concert promoter in the early 1970s.
By the end of the decade, they had transformed into a record label with the release of The Tights, a band described as “Malvern’s own answer to the punk explosion.” Today, they boast one of the most “prolific outputs of any independent imprint,” releasing more than 300 physical albums each year.
On March 23, 2025, the company announced a greatest hits album by Julee Cruise via Instagram, which became an instant purchase for me:
“Coming in April, Julee Cruise: FALL_FLOAT_LOVE (Works 1989-1993). This 2CD set compiles the first phase of the unique and enigmatic chanteuse’s recording career, featuring songs by David Lynch and Angelo Badalamenti. It includes Falling (as heard on Twin Peaks), alongside singles, remixes, and Julee’s two albums from 1989 and 1993. The collection comes complete with a sleevenote essay by Frank Deserto.”
The album was officially released on April 18, 2025 with catalog number QCD2BRED921 and bar code number 5013929192119. Retail £14.99.
Purchase the 2CD Set via Cherry Red Records website
The product description on their website is as follows:
2CD SET COMPILING THE FIRST PHASE OF THE UNIQUE AND ENIGMATIC CHANTEUSE’s RECORDING CAREER.
• FEATURING SONGS BY DAVID LYNCH AND ANGELO BADALAMENTI.
• INCLUDES ‘FALLING’ (AS FEATURED ON TWIN PEAKS) ALONGSIDE SINGLES, REMIXES AND JULEE’S TWO ALBUMS, RELEASED IN 1989 AND 1993.
• COMPLETE WITH SLEEVENOTE ESSAY BY FRANK DESERTO.
Best known for her hit ‘Falling’, a vocal version of the iconic Twin Peaks theme song, and her appearances in the show itself, Julee Cruise also contributed to many other musical projects and appeared on stage in several musical and stage revues throughout a lengthy career. Her name, though, will forever be associated with Twin Peaks and its creator David Lynch, who co-wrote and produced these two albums of shimmering, glacial pop with the composer Angelo Badalamenti.
Oozing a charm and elegance that takes in everything from 50s kitsch and lounge jazz to modern classical, and produced with an eccentric flair, the debut ‘Floating Into The Night’ is a masterpiece of ethereal pop, overflowing with mood pieces and ambient atmospheres – confusing to radio DJs and retail outlets in 1989, it remains uncategorisable and yet instantly recognisable today. Four years later, ‘The Voice Of Love’ span off of the Twin Peaks film Fire Walk With Me, featuring songs included both there and in Lynch’s classic Wild At Heart. Very much a companion piece to the debut album, the recordings again showcase both Badalamenti’s wonderful compositions and Cruise’s remarkable, hazy vocals. Paired together here, and best heard in sequence, we present both albums, alongside the rare and wonderful original demo of ‘Falling’, a selection of remixes of the ‘Rockin’ Back Inside My Heart’ single and the non-album track ‘Summer Kisses, Winter Tears’, taken from the Wim Wenders’ film Until The End Of The World.
Stylishly presented, and complete with an insightful sleevenote essay, ‘Fall_Float_Love’ demands a long overdue rediscovery of both Julee herself, who sadly passed away in 2022, and of the adventures in pop music of the recently departed David Lynch.
JULEE CRUISE | FALL-FLOAT-LOVE – WORKS 1989-1993 | CD CASE
The album arrived wrapped in plastic with a square sticker that read: “Julee Cruise / Fall – Float – Love / Songs by David Lynch and Angelo Badalamenti”
The front and back of the 2 CD set contains dreamy imagery of Julee Cruise along with the track listing.
The cover image of Julee is taken from an issue of Select Magazine supposedly published in 1991. I have yet to identify the month in which this image was published.
The image opposite Julee with the track listing was taken by Mariana Montrazi and titled “Close Up Of a Fish Tail.”
The inside of the CD cover with an additional image of Julee Cruise and half an image by Mariana Montrazi titled, “Underwater View of a Drowning Woman.”
The design and layout of the CD packaging was done by Keith Davey at Altmark Creative. Photography used throughout the cover and booklet is by Keith Davey, Mariana Montrazi, Vitor Diniz, Irina Bekhtereva & Lesha Tuman via pexels.
JULEE CRUISE | FALL-FLOAT-LOVE – WORKS 1989-1993 | COMPACT DISCS
The first compact disc is titled, “Floating Into The Night+” which is Cruise’s original 1989 album plus bonus tracks of additional mixes found on the Peaks Mania EP from Japan.
Floating Into The Night+ Track Listing
- Floating
- Falling
- I Remember
- Rockin’ Back Inside My Heart
- Mysteries Of Love
- Into The Night
- I Float Alone
- The Nightingale
- The Swan
- The World Spins
- Falling (Demo)
- Rockin’ Back Inside My Heart (A Cappella)
- Rockin’ Back Inside My Heart (Tibetan 12″ Mix)
- Rockin’ Back Inside My Heart (Tibetan Dub)
- Rockin’ Back Inside My Heart (Bonus Beats)
- Rockin’ Back Inside My Heart (Tibetan Single Mix)
The second compact disc in this set is titled, “The Voice of Love+” which is Julee’s 1993 album plus additional bonus tracks. One track, “Summer Kisses, Winter Tears,” was included on the soundtrack to Wim Wenders’ Until the End of the World from 1991 (I adore this film which was released by Criterion Collection in 2019).
The Voice Of Love + Track Listing:
- This Is Our Night
- The Space For Love
- Movin’ In On You
- Friends For Life
- Up In Flames
- Kool Kat Walk
- Until The End Of The World
- She Would Die For Love
- In My Other World
- Questions In A World Of Blue
- The Voice Of Love
- Summer Kisses, Winter Tears
- Falling (Edit)
- Rockin’ Back Inside My Heart (Edit)
JULEE CRUISE | FALL-FLOAT-LOVE – WORKS 1989-1993 | BOOKLET
The 2 CD set also contains a 14-page booklet with liner notes by Frank Deserto, who is the Bassist of The Harrow, curator/writer at Cherry Red Records, and blogger at Systems of Romance. It appears he may have written these notes shortly after David Lynch’s passing on January 15, 2025.
The first two pages contain a photo by Vitor Diniz titled, “Abstract Motion Blur of a Draped Figure” from Pexels.com. The image of Julee is from her 1993 publicity photo taken for the release of “The Voice of Love.”
Photographer E.J. Carr took Julee’s headshot and the photo found inside her 1993 album.
Page 3 contains the track listing for the first disc and a cropped image originally found on the cover of “Floating into the Night.” On page 4, Mariana Montrazi photo, “Underwater View of a Drowning Woman,” is used again.
Copyright information is also found at the bottom of page 4.
Disc One written by Badalamenti/Lynch (Anion-Music Company/Universal/MCA music Ltd/OK Paul Music), excent for “Falling* (Badalamenti/Lynch/Lederman (Anion-Music Company/Universal/MCA music Ltd/Bobkind Music), and ‘Mysteries Of Love (Lynch/Badalamenti (FTC Music Division). Disc One ® 1989 WEA International Inc, except for ‘Falling (Demo) ® 2018 WEA International Inc. Licensed courtesy of Warner Music UK Ltd. This compilation © 2025 Cherry Red Records. London W4. www.cherrvred.co.uk
Page 5 contains the track listing for disc 2 which is from “The Voice of Love” plus a few additional songs.
The image used is from an uncredited Pexels photographer named Vova Kras who titled his image, “Blood Moon on Dark Sky.”
Page 6 contains David Lynch’s 1991 work titled, “Clay Head With Turkey, Cheese and Ants.” It was featured on Cruise’s 1993 album and oddly on a face covering from David Lynch’s online store in July 2020. What a strange time.
The copyright information on page 6 reads:
Disc Two written by Badalamenti/Lynch (Anlon-Music Company/Universal Music Corporation/Universal Music Publishing Ltd), except for “Movin’ In On You, ‘Friends For Life. ‘Up In Flames, ‘Kool Kat Walk. Until The End Of The World, ‘Questions In A World Of Blue (Badalamenti/Lynch (Anion-Music Company/Universal/MCA Ltd/Bobkind Music)), In My Other World’ (Tucci/Cruise (Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Co/Carner Chappell North America/I’m A Girl Music)) and Summer Kisses, Winter Tears (Lloyd/Wise (Gladys Music/Carlin Music Delaware Lie/WC Music Corp/ Warner Chappell North America Ltd). Disc Two ® 2000 WEA International Inc. (except for track ‘Summer Kisses. Winter Tears’ ® 1991 and ‘Falling’ (Edit) ® 1989 WEA International Inc.) Licensed courtesy of Warner Music UK Ltd. This compilation © 2025 Cherry Red Records, London W4. www.cherryred.co.uk
Page 7 contains a photograph of Julee Cruise taken by David Lynch in 1989 along with a photo from Pexel’s photographer Irina Bekhtereva titled, “”Blurry Orange Object on a Black Background.”
Frank Deserto’s liner notes start on page 8:
“One of music’s most mysterious and enchanting sirens was born on the first day of December in 1956, to a dentist and an assistant office manager. Whether the town of Creston, Iowa contained any of the same salacious secrets as the fictional town of Twin Peaks, it cannot be said, but as they say, sometimes the biggest mysteries come from the most unassuming of beginnings.
As such, when a young Julee Ann Cruise moved to New York and took up acting and singing, she found herself in the right place at the right time. An carly stage collaboration with an up and coming Angelo Badalamenti captured the late composer’s attention, and set Cruise on an auspicious course. Badalamenti, who was carving out his own space with a handful of film scores inspired by the great Kurt Weill, had just struck up a partnership with wild-eyed film director David Lynch, who had a handful of surreal, nightmarish works under his belt and had just scored a sci-fi hit with a big-screen adaptation of Frank Herbert’s Dune. Lynch’s forthcoming film Blue Velvet was in production, and the director was desperately hoping to license This Mortal Coil’s otherworldly cover of Tim Buckley’s Song To The Siren’ for the film, which touched upon the darker undercurrents of smalltown America.”
Against a cropped image from Mariana Montrazi titled “Close Up Of a Fish Tail,” the liner notes continue on page 9:
When budget proved to be an issue and put a stop to this idea, Lynch quickly thought outside the box, asking Badalamenti to come up with a track that captured the same heavenly atmosphere of the song and the ethereal tonality of Cocteau Twins vocalist Elizabeth Fraser. Lynch had a set of lyrics, and Badalamenti was quick to recommend Cruise for the track. The final product was the haunting Mysteries Of Love’, which served as the original underlying musical theme for Blue Velvet, acting as the perfect bridge between the film’s innocent exterior and sinister undercurrent.
Blue Velvet was a tremendous success, and cemented the trio of Cruise, Badalamenti, and Lynch as a powerful musical force that ran in tandem with both surrealist underground cinema and the budding dream pop movement.
Even now, decades later, it’s nearly impossible to separate the trio, who would quickly collaborate on a full-length LP, 1989’s excellent Floating Into The Night, written and produced by Lynch and Badalamenti and featuring Mysteries Of Love alongside nine additional tracks full of soft synth pads, crystalline detached vocals, and occasionally, dramatic clouds of cacophony that are startling as the rest of the record is serene. Other players on the LP included drummer Gerry Brown and Vinnie Bell, a session guitarist who played on Simon and Garfunkel’s evocative Sounds Of Silence.
Vova Kras’ photography is featured again on page 9 with an image titled, “A Traffic Light Near Cables During Winter.” The line notes float across the bottom of the page:
Floating Into The Night was released on Warner Bros., and served as the backbone of two upcoming Lynch projects. both of which were in the works at the same time and were released in the spring of 1990.
One of these projects was Industrial Symphony No. 1, an avant-garde multimedia presentation starring Nicolas Cage and Laura Dern in roles that predate their characters in 1990s Wild At Heart. That piece featured four tracks from Floating Into The Night and a fifth, yet-to-be-released song. Cruise herself starred as The Dreamself of the Heartbroken Woman, performing from high above the stage, kept afloat by a harness.
Lynch also drew upon this fruitful well of recordings for his new television series Twin Peaks, which expanded on Blue Velvet in vision and scope, adding a myriad of colourful characters and a rich tapestry of interwoven drama.
A modern-day soap opera of sorts, the show was a runaway success – audiences in America and elsewhere were captivated by the strange and wonderful plavers, drawn to the sinister mystery of a homecoming queen’s bizarre death, and confused and titillated by the heavy dabblings in the occult and the surreal. A centerpiece of Twin Peaks lore, the infamous Bang Bang Bar (aka The Roadhouse), served as a gateway between innocence and despair, and often featured Cruise performing tracks such as Into The Night’ and “The Nightingale’, her still beauty and
Page 11 has a photograph by Lesha Tuman titled, “Night City in Fog through Window” along with Deserto’s liner notes:
…breathtaking voice becoming an ominous character in itself. While these delicately craftily moments captured the hearts and minds of Peaks fans, it was ‘Falling that made the most impact on a broader scale. Badalamenti’s instrumental version of the track served as the unforgettable opening montage of the show, but Cruise’s vocal version was something of an unassuming hit – not only did it earn her a spot on Saturday Night Live, the instrumental version built on its momentum to win Best Pop Instrumental at the 33rd annual Grammy Awards. Building on this exposure, the album also yielded several club remixes of Rockin’ Back Inside My Heart’, another standout cut that runs early rock n’ roll and dark jazz influences through a dream pop filter.
In the wake of this success, Cruise, Badalamenti and Lynch continued to collaborate. Angelo and Julee contributed a cover of Elvis Presley’s ‘Summer Kisses, Winter Tears to the 1991 Wim Wenders film Until The End Of The World before the trio began work on material for Cruise’s sophomore LP, the equally serene and marvellous The Voice Of Love, which was released in 1993. Two sides of the same coin, The Voice Of Love featured a similar cast of musicians and employed the same detached, beautiful soundscapes as its predecessor, although perhaps with a little less ice cool detachment. The material similarly ran parallel through Lynch’s next film works – “Kool Kat Walk appeared as an instrumental in Wild At Heart whilst the album’s title track and ‘She Would Die For Love’ both appeared instrumentally in Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me. In the film itself, Cruise once more appeared at The Roadhouse. performing Questions In A World Of Blue’
Here is Tuman’s original photograph from Pexels.
Following another successful collaboration, as Lynch and Badalamenti moved on to other commitments Cruise found herself working with other artists and dabbling in theater once more. Around this time, she struck up a deep friendship with Athens, GA band The B-52s, who at the time had broken through the cult new wave circuit and become beloved kitschy MTV superstars with their fifth record, 1989’s Cosmic Thing. Seeking a replacement for founding member Cindy Wilson while touring 1992’s Good Stuff LP, The B-52s brought Cruise on board, and she would continue to perform with the band through 1999, even after Wilson had returned to the fold. These years were among some of Cruise’s most cherished times, and, unlike her icy performances at The Roadhouse, were full of the same vivacious, quirky energy that The B-52s were worshipped for. During this time Julee would also collaborate with The Flow on a track featured on the soundtrack for 1996’s smash horror hit Scream.
A photo titled, “Photo of Hands Underwater” by Mariana Montrazi is found on page 12.
Despite the majesty of her first two albums, it would be nine long years before Cruise released her third. 2003’s underrated The Art Of Being A Girl. The album featured a new set of collaborators, most notably multi-instrumentalist J.J. McGeehan, and would serve as a bit of a departure for Cruise, delving deeper into both standard jazz and electronic territory, showcasing her voice amongst different textures with equally captivating results. Julee’s devotion to electronic music continued with collaborations with Hybrid. Delerium. Pluramon. B(if)tek and others, bur would fully come to fruition with 2011’s My Secret Life, her fourth LP, produced by DJ Dmitry of ’90s electronic dance pop group Dee-lite.
Deserto’s liner notes conclude on page 13:
While this would be Cruise’s final LP, she also made a triumphant return to The Roadhouse in 2017 for Twin Peaks: The Return, the third and final season of the beloved television show, which took place a quarter-century after the events of the original series. There she appeared with dream pop/Italo-inspired favourites The Chromatics, together performing the sublime ‘The World Spins’ in the show’s final episode.
Unfortunately, our tale comes to an end here: Julee Cruise passed away unexpectedly in June 2022, with her loving husband Edward Grinnan by her side to assist with her transition. Per a bittersweet epitaph shared by Grinnan, she passed into the ether while listening to The B-52s’ ‘Roam’, a perfect track that encapsulates Julee’s adventurous spirit and fruitful career. Soon after, in December 2022 we lost Angelo Badalamenti, and just this past month (as I write) Lynch also left the world in a unexpected turn of events. Hard to imagine the loss of these three visionaries in such a short space of time, but words cannot describe the sheer joy and beauty they crafted with each other, directly inspired by one another. Truly a unique blend of music, voice and unruly cool.
As such, we encourage you to enjoy Julee Cruise’s most seminal works, collected here for your listening pleasure. May they comfort you through times of need and times of joy.
Page 14 contains another photo of Julee Cruise taken by David Lynch in 1989. The caption contains her date of birth and date of death: December 1st 1956 – June 9th 2022.
This is a wonderful compilation album containing music from such an important time in Cruise’s career and in the history of my favorite show, Twin Peaks.
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