REVIEW: Jocelyn Montgomery with David Lynch, Lux Vivens (Living
Light)
- Jon Steltenpohl
Throughout his career, David Lynch has tried time and time again to create visions of slightly twisted parallel world where the bizarre is seemingly everywhere. He's brought that vision to light not only with characters and visuals, but also with music. Even in his early cult classic, Eraserhead, there was a miniature girl in the radiator singing about heaven. His later albums with Angelo Badalamenti and Julee Cruise provided a mysterious, yet silly take on the Twin Peaks theme, and lately, he was responsible for bringing Rammstein to the masses with the Lost Highway soundtrack.
However, regardless of the success of his work, Lynch remains an artist for whom you always wonder if you can take seriously. His work is often bizarre just for the sake of being bizarre. Now, collaborating with Jocelyn Montgomery, David Lynch has produced an album which is remarkable for both it other-worldliness and its stunning beauty. And thankfully, Lynch has restrained his need to tweak the nose of rational thought. Lux Vivens (Living Light) manages to be both mysterious and serious without taking away from either aspect.
Lynch discovered Montgomery as she walked down the street singing to herself. With an eye for talent and itching to get going in his new recording studio, Lynch recruited Montgomery as his next diva. Montgomery, a trained vocal artist, had recently been exposed to the music of a German nun named Hildegard von Bingen who lived from 1098-1179.
The resulting album of these three unlikely collaborators is a treasure. It unfolds like a dream where you find yourself floating over Eden. Montgomery's single a Capella voice echoes as if you were in an ancient monastery. The echoes float back and forth over themselves in a most incredible display of self harmonization that turns one voice into a chorus of angels.
Unlike the Enigma albums or the Benedictine Monks remixes of a few years back, Lux Vivens (Living Light) contains no dance beat behind it. There is no percussion. Strings, wind and rain, bird sounds, and other effects set a quiet backdrop for Montgomery's practiced voice. She is crystal clear, like a small bell. Simple, subdued. Yet within each note, Montgomery caresses and consoles the melody to the point of breathlessness.
After a single listen, the title comes as no surprise. Lux Vivens (Living Light) begs to be played with candles in the room. Something about the music is solemn and contemplative. It's as if there is a ceremony in progress. The listener is practically dared to find a bath or a massage to complement the album. Just toss that Songs of the Humpback Whales album by "Yanni wannabe #23" in the trash, put this album in the player, and relax away. Lux Vivens (Living Light) is riddled with continuity and consistency as one song softly flickers into another.
The album is, like most of Lynch's work, more different and abstract than what you'd normally find in the mainstream. But, unlike his previous body of work, the quirkiness is restrained and very refined. Lynch, with Montgomery as his voice, has finally found a way to focus on just his genius and leave the rest behind. Lux Vivens (Living Light) is an auditory masterpiece.
