REVIEW: David Lynch and Lykke Li’s “I’m Waiting Here”

Two years since David Lynch’s “Pinky’s Dream,” the release of his upcoming album, The Big Dream, is creeping along quite nicely, with Lykke Li’s whispered hint of a far sexier and more surreal theme of an album that may indeed be much bigger and better than its predecessor.

“I’m Waiting Here,” the Lykke Li/David Lynch collaborative single, is the only track released from the album so far, but lucky us, it is also accompanied by a music video (that is, unlucky for us, not directed by Lynch himself).  Regardless, the video is the window to the song’s soul, and its vacant and hypnotic feel not only matches the track’s sound wonderfully, but it too will leave you feeling the way Lynch always intends to make you feel — just a little bit crazy.

It’s a tedious video following a long road as the landscape slips out of view over and over and over again.  Our eyes follow along like the weary driver’s herself, as Lykke Li’s lovesick and airy voice repeatedly serenades us with the haunting words “I’m waiting here.”  The video drives us with layered footage of the lanes, tricking us as if we’re focusing dry eyelids struggling to stay open until suddenly we’re parking in a headlight-lit neighborhood right off the side of the never-ending road.  Then it’s over.

Which leaves us waiting here, as well.

The video tells us nothing, which is why its aftertaste leaves you feeling vaguely uncomfortable and subtly curious.  There’s no explanation of the neighborhood we’re led to, nor do we have any sense of where we came from or who we are.  Lykke Li sings “I’m waiting here,” but she also tells us that she’s burned bridges to get where she waits — granting an especially eerie and mysterious vibe.  There is a story here, but we don’t know what it is.

It’s a simple and fitting visual for a song that instantly became my favorite Lykke Li song and a promise that “The Big Dream” is worth the wait after “Pinky’s Dream.”  Where “Pinky’s Dream” has absolutely been repeated through my speakers, “I’m Waiting Here” gives the impression that perhaps “The Big Dream” will be worlds different than what we had originally expected.

Of course, that is an excellent thing.  Right now we can’t know what strange neighborhood Lynch will drop us off at when the album is released next month, but it’s definitely a drive I’m willing to tag along for.