David Lynch discography

The following discography of David Lynch, an American film director and musician, consists of three studio albums, two collaborative studio albums, six soundtrack albums, two spoken-word albums, one extended play, twenty singles and six music videos. Lynch was involved in several music projects, many of them related to his films, including sound design for some of his films (sometimes alongside collaborators Alan Splet, Dean Hurley and Angelo Badalamenti). His album genres included experimental rock, ambient soundscapes and, most recently, avant-garde electropop music. He produced and wrote lyrics for Julee Cruise's first two albums, Floating into the Night (1989) and The Voice of Love (1993), in collaboration with Badalamenti, who composed the music and also produced.

Lynch's first featured release was the soundtrack to his 1977 debut feature film Eraserhead, which was released on I.R.S. Records and Alternative Tentacles in 1982; he recorded the album with sound designer Alan Splet and co-wrote the song "In Heaven (Lady in the Radiator Song)". In the late 1980s and early 1990s Lynch produced several albums with Badalamenti, who scored Lynch's 1990–1991 television series Twin Peaks and the accompanying 1992 feature film Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me. Lynch and Badalamenti's own collaborations for Twin Peaks were released over 15 years later as two soundtrack albums: Twin Peaks Music: Season Two Music and More (2007) and The Twin Peaks Archive (2011–2012). Lynch and Badalamenti also released the soundtrack to Lynch's 2001 feature film Mulholland Drive together.

In 1998 Lynch released his first collaborative studio album, Lux Vivens, with Jocelyn Montgomery. It was engineered by John Neff, with whom Lynch released BlueBOB in 2001. Lynch released series of recordings in 2007, including the soundtrack to his 2006 feature film Inland Empire; the soundtrack to his 2007 retrospective exhibition The Air Is on Fire; the collaborative studio album Polish Night Music with Marek Zebrowski; and his debut solo single, "Ghost of Love". Around the time Lynch frequently began collaborating with sound artist and musician Dean Hurley. Lynch subsequently appeared as a guest musician, producer and remixer on several other artists' releases, including Dark Night of the Soul (2010) by Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse and several recordings by Chrystabell.

Crazy Clown Time, Lynch's first solo studio album, was released in November 2011 on PIAS and Sunday Best. Featuring a guest performance by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs vocalist Karen O, it received generally favorable critical acclaim and placed in several international charts. His second studio album, The Big Dream, was released in July 2013 on Sunday Best, Sacred Bones Records and INGRID; The Big Dream's lead single, "I'm Waiting Here", featured guest vocalist Lykke Li. The album received similar favorable reviews and again placed in several international charts. Lynch released his last album, Cellophane Memories, in 2024.

Career

Lynch was involved in several music projects, many of them related to his films, including sound design for some of his films (sometimes alongside collaborators Alan Splet, Dean Hurley and Angelo Badalamenti). His album genres included experimental rock, ambient soundscapes and, most recently, avant-garde electropop music. He produced and wrote lyrics for Julee Cruise's first two albums, Floating into the Night (1989) and The Voice of Love (1993), in collaboration with Badalamenti, who composed the music and also produced. In 1991, Lynch directed a 30-second teaser trailer for Michael Jackson's album Dangerous at Jackson's request. Lynch also worked on the 1998 Jocelyn Montgomery album Lux Vivens (Living Light), The Music of Hildegard von Bingen. He composed music for Wild at Heart, Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me, Mulholland Drive, and Rabbits. In 2001, he released BlueBob, a blues album performed by Lynch and John Neff. The album is notable for Lynch's unusual guitar playing style. He plays "upside down and backwards, like a lap guitar", and relies heavily on effects pedals. Lynch composed several pieces for Inland Empire, including two songs, "Ghost of Love" and "Walkin' on the Sky", in which he made his public debut as a singer. In 2009, his book-CD set Dark Night of the Soul was released. In 2008, he started his own record label, David Lynch MC, which first released Fox Bat Strategy: A Tribute to Dave Jaurequi in early 2009.

In November 2010, Lynch released two electropop music singles, "Good Day Today" and "I Know", on the independent British label Sunday Best Recordings. Of the songs, he said, "I was just sitting and these notes came and then I went down and started working with Dean [Hurley] and then these few notes, 'I want to have a good day, today' came and the song was built around that". The singles were followed by an album, Crazy Clown Time, which was released in November 2011 and described as an "electronic blues album". The songs were sung by Lynch, with guest vocals on one track by Karen O of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and composed and performed by Lynch and Hurley. All or most of the songs on Crazy Clown Time were put into art-music videos, with Lynch directing the title song's video.

On September 29, 2011, Lynch released This Train with vocalist and longtime musical collaborator Chrystabell on the La Rose Noire label. Lynch's third studio album, The Big Dream, was released in 2013 and included the single "I'm Waiting Here", with Swedish singer-songwriter Lykke Li. The Big Dream's release was preceded by TBD716, an enigmatic 43-second video featured on Lynch's YouTube and Vine accounts. For Record Store Day 2014, Lynch released The Big Dream Remix EP, which featured four songs from his album remixed by various artists. This included the track "Are You Sure" remixed by the band Bastille. Bastille is known to have been inspired by Lynch's work for its songs and videos, especially the song "Laura Palmer".

On November 2, 2018, a collaborative album by Lynch and Badalamenti, Thought Gang, was released on vinyl and compact disc. The album was recorded around 1993 but not released at the time. Two tracks from it appear on the soundtrack for Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me and three others were used for Twin Peaks: The Return. In May 2019, Lynch provided guest vocals on the track "Fire is Coming" by Flying Lotus. He also co-wrote the track that appears on Flying Lotus's album Flamagra. A video accompanying the song was released on April 17, 2019. In May 2021, Lynch produced a track, "I Am the Shaman", by Scottish artist Donovan. The song was released on May 10, Donovan's 75th birthday. Lynch also directed the accompanying video.

In August 2024, Lynch released his final album, Cellophane Memories, a collaboration between him and Chrystabell. Lynch also directed videos for two tracks on the album, "Sublime Eternal Love" and "The Answers to the Questions".