Alicia Witt: Album Release Show - Between Heaven and Earth (and David Lynch)

Between Heaven and Earth, the haunting and deeply personal new album from Alicia Witt, arrives August 28 via Thirty Tigers. Recorded live in New York City with producer Joe Henry and a band assembled specifically for the project, the album exists between transcendence and intimacy, channeling what Witt describes as eternal unconditional love and the place suspended between heaven and earth. The album was shaped by the influence and memory of David Lynch, whose impact on Witt began with her first role as Alia in Dune at age seven. I cant imagine who I would be without David Lynch, Witt reflects. He is weaved throughout the fabric of my life. On Between Heaven and Earth, Witt explores what she learned from Lynch regarding love. The eternal nature of it, the idea that only love is real. She describes his presence as palpable throughout the recording process: David was with us every day in the studio. All six of us in the band felt his presence. While widely recognized for her acclaimed acting career spanning film, television, and stage, music has remained a constant throughline in Witts life. A classically trained pianist who supported herself as a musician when she first moved to LA, Witt has long integrated music into her creative identity, through her own songwriting and in many of the roles she has portrayed onscreen. Between Heaven and Earth is Witts 8th album. Tracked live over four days with vocals and instrumentation recorded simultaneously, the album embraces what Witt calls a visceral and eternal energy, one that could never be replicated. Guided by Henrys vision and the chemistry of the musicians in the room, the songs were channeled instinctively, with minimal overdubs and an openness to what Witt repeatedly refers to as that place the transcendent emotional state she connects to through Transcendental Meditation, prayer, creativity, and Lynchs work itself.The songs on Between Heaven and Earth explore themes of longing, fate, healing, surrender, nostalgia, gratitude, and connection through what Witt describes as a lens of insistent optimism. The title track embraces a mystical new connection, rooted in faith that it does no harm to dream. On Artifacts, Witt examines releasing ancient lessons that no longer serve; Kindred channels barriers evaporating in a fabric of light and destiny, while Build Me A Dream reflects on constructing the reality we wish to exist in. Elsewhere, songs like Freeze Frame, Test Drive, and Blue Moon meditate on alternate timelines and the peaceful acceptance of connections that were not meant to remain. Thank You, a duet with John Paul White, transforms heartbreak into gratitude. On Love Anyway, Witt sings about unconditional love that remains even when unreturned.Closing the album is The Director, a track Witt describes as communication with David, a collection of his words to me since he passed away.