Booth And The Bad Angel is the name given to the collaborative project by vocalist Tim Booth and composer Angelo Badalamenti. Booth is perhaps best known as the vocalist for the pop band James (Laid, Wah Wah ) and Badalamenti as the man behind the moody, atmospheric soundtracks of “Twin Peaks” and “Blue Velvet,” as well as for his work with Marianne Faithfull and Julee Cruise (Floating Into The Night ). As the story has it, the two artists met up on a now-defunct British music show whose intention was to bring together musicians from disparate genres. Well, by all accounts, it worked, because not too terribly long after that chance meeting, this unlikely pair set out to make a record.
Together, Booth and Badalamenti have crafted a highly-textured collection of tracks. Rich, lush and ornate, the project successfully combines Badalamenti’s tendency toward the tragic and darkly ethereal with Booth’s energetic and upbeat pop sensibilities. The opening number, “I Believe,” is a catchy tune featuring ex-Suede Bernard Butler (who also receives mixing and production credit on nearly half of the tracks) on guitar and percussions. Other tracks include the dreamy, floating, “Fall In Love With Me,” (“I hear the sound of moons falling/surrender to this charm”); the poppy, hook-laden “Old Ways;” the hypnotic, psychedelic “Life Gets Better;” and the steamy, rollicking “Butterfly’s Dream,” (“Drag my lips across these mouths/Drag my hips across this crowd . . . I’d love to sleep/with the whole town”). In this unique collaboration, Booth and Badalamenti take various elements of their respective musical worlds and meld them into something entirely new. The end result is an engaging, atmospheric pop album.
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