Baltimore dream pop duo Beach House, and cult 1990 television series Twin Peaks, have intersected in the world's most bizarre Venn diagram.
The ominous, astral new single "Wishes" -- from Beach House's fourth LP Bloom -- features an appropriately surreal music video. Directing the project is Eric Wareheim, the often polarizing and always eccentric auteur who is most well-known as one-half of the comedy team Tim and Eric, but has also become an in-demand music video director; helming videos for gamut ranging acts like The Bird and the Bee (Polite Dance Song), and Major Lazer (Pon De Floor).
Immediately noticeable in the video are many similarities to Twin Peaks, the early 90s ABC series created by legendary director David Lynch (Blue Velvet, Mulholland Drive).; which centered around the peculiar, eponymous town, and the mysterious murder of homecoming queen Laura Palmer.
The most readily apparent similarity is that the video stars Ray Wise, the actor who indelibly played the part of Laura Palmer's troubled father Leland in the series. The music itself hearkens back strongly to the songs of Angelo Badalamenti -- the musician who scored Twin Peaks--, particularly his work with dream pop vocalist Julee Cruise. Finally, though innocuous to the casual viewer, Peaks aficionados will recognize Ray Wise mounting a white stallion near the video's end as an homage to the imagery Lynch hauntingly employed during the hit-series' highest-rated moment.
When considering the videos idiosyncratic detail, emotional response of the crowd, and multiple similarities to the David Lynch series --including Ray Wise's penchant for crooning-- ; It's alluring to imagine this video taking place at halftime of a Twin Peaks H.S. game, during their 1990 season.
Either way, watch the video --at 1080p--. And if you haven't yet seen Twin Peaks, It's currently available on Netflix and Hulu Plus; for the love of what's good, watch it, and become a self-actualized human being.
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