Up-and-coming UK electro-popper Bright Light Bright Light (aka Rod Thomas) has covered Julee Cruise‘s “Falling,” a song more familiar in instrumental form as the theme to David Lynch’s cult TV classic, Twin Peaks.

But Cruise’s vocal version of “Falling,” released in September 1989, predated Twin Peaks’ television premiere the following spring. The track appeared on her debut album, Floating Into The Night, which was written and produced by Lynch and his regular collaborator, composer Angelo Badalamenti, who’d first met the angelic-voiced Cruise at a New York theater workshop. The trio had previously recorded “Mysteries Of Love” for Lynch’s 1986 film, Blue Velvet, which led to plans for a full album together.

Of course, Cruise’s Floating Into The Night didn’t really take off until Twin Peaks hooked television viewers many months later. The mystery surrounding Laura Palmer’s murder had viewers searching for answers, and I recall Lynch hinting that some clues to the teenager’s untimely demise might be found by listening to Floating Into The Night. His statement was a genius stroke of synergy, as Cruise had also performed on the series, singing songs from the album. “Falling” was released as a single in June 1990, and quickly rose to #11 on the Billboard Modern Rock chart.

Fast forward over two decades later, when on December 15, in a blog post titled, “TWIN PEAKS – Merry Christmas,” Bright Light Bright Light’s Thomas came clean as an avowed Peaks-nik like me. He explained the context behind his choice of cover song thusly:

“You may know that I am obsessed with Twin Peaks.
I fell in love with the theme song ‘Falling’ the very first time I heard it, and I did my own cover version of it, which NME included on their ‘On Repeat’ section as one of the 10 things to hear this week.”

Well, it’s been about 10 days since the track’s initial appearance, but Bright Light Bright Light’s take on “Falling,” remains well worth listening to, particularly because it comes from such a fervent fan. And by clicking the link below, you can snag the cover for yourself, completely free.

Free download of Bright Light Bright Light – “Falling” (‘Twin Peaks’ Theme) via Arjanwrites.

So far, Bright Light Bright Light has released just one proper single, “Love Part II,” which arrived earlier this year. A full-length album, Make Me Believe In Hope, is coming soon, but sign up now at the Bright Light Bright Light website for immediate access to some free tunes to discover the sort of wonderful pop Thomas concocts.

As for Cruise, after another album with Lynch and Badalamenti (1993’s The Voice Of Love), a stint as Cindy Wilson’s replacement in the touring version of The B-52s, and a handful of collaborations with other artists, the singer mostly went off the radar. It wasn’t until 2002 that she released her third album, The Art Of Being A Girl (which featured an updated recording of “Falling”). Cruise is reportedly prepping a new album for release in 2011.