Bring Ya to the Brink

by

Cyndi Lauper

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Cyndi Lauper's career has seen her success fluctuate from dizzying highs to off-the-scale lows, with a startlingly diverse artistic palette and long gaps between albums doubtless accounting for the lion's share of the inconsistency. She flourished as a pop culture ingénue with her eccentric, flamboyant image, but this contrasted with her more inherent identity as a state of the art song stylist and inventive, highly skilled songwriter and musician. Now a quarter century has passed and the average person is still at a loss for words to properly define Lauper. Regardless, she has never sounded more at home on brand new dance floor-ready studio album "Bring Ya to the Brink." The girl who just wanted to have fun is either having the time of her life or doing a damn fine job of making listeners believe it.

A definite nod to her core fanbase in the LGBT community, the theme of "Bring Ya to the Brink" does not showcase the New York native's soaring range as her 2003 chestnut covers collection "At Last" did, for example. Rather, it boasts frenetic, club-ready beats and propulsive, repetitious melodies, replete with disco ball imagery. That is exactly as it is supposed to be. From the funky, loquacious opener "High and Mighty" with its temperamental synths to the sweeping gust of wind that is "Set Your Heart," the album is wall to wall uptempo energy, making it an ideal summer disc.

Some could say that Lauper is aping Madonna, whose last two LPs were aimed straight at nightclubs and dance floors. However, the key difference is that "Bring Ya to the Brink" neither flagrantly tips the hat to the past nor makes an earnest effort to keep things trendy or Top 40 savvy. Instead, Lauper mixes together 80's new wave stylings with easy, effusive beats that are nothing if not indicative of the late 2000s to create a sound neither retro nor modern, but simply the genesis of her atypical artistic vision. The most important thing, however, is that it never fails to entertain.

Hooks run aplenty on "Echo," a bittersweet slice of Eurodance, as well as lead single "Same Ol' Story," a 12"-length gem which is currently climbing the club charts thanks to its fluffy production values reminiscent of ace 70's collaborations between Donna Summer and Giorgio Moroder. Indeed, as Lauper declares on the sweaty, propulsive "Give It Up," "I've got to get back to the floor!"

With this new direction she has her cake and eats it too, as she continues to make heady statements and social commentary where she sees fit in spite of the levity that surrounds. "Lyfe," with its memorable chorus ("Lyfe/It can shake ya/It can break ya/It can bring ya to the brink") serves as a prime example, as does "Raging Storm," a meditation on problems inherent in the values of today's cultural landscape:

"Rich man, poor man, beggar man, thief/You can fool some people, but you can't fool me/Harbor all the hate and greed/Threaten demise of democracy/There's a raging storm in a troubled sea/But you're clouding my mind with celebrity."

Second single "Into the Nightlife" is the most instantly addicting with its gyrating snyths, stomp-on-glass production values and cheeky, sexual lyrics ("Shirtless wonders wreck my sight under the light"), providing the most potent chance for a crossover to pop radio, while "Rocking Chair," a frothy, mercurial collaboration with Basement Jaxx, provides a mighty hook and eye-popping lyrics. It's a joy to hear Lauper wrap her vocals around its juicy, uncontainable melody.

"Lay Me Down" with its haunting, inescapable melody and evocative lyrics is the album's arguable highlight, while "Rain on Me" closes the disc with a wistful, bittersweet high note that is exemplary of Lauper's unique voice as a songwriter.

"Bring Ya to the Brink" continues Lauper's career with another top notch release. Each track is a gem with no trace of filler. Lauper never fails to reveal new aspects of her unique, thoroughly entertaining talents as both a singer and songwriter, and this new release keeps the bar raised high.

Cyndi Lauper's CD At Last captivated me with "Stay" going to #1 in my personal top ten. In "Bring Ya to the Brink," the photograph of Lauper dusting off a disco ball with an expressionless affect describes most of the music well. The overall feeling this set generates for me is someone who has had tragic news and puts on their best clothes and goes to a party anyway, looking great but feeling very low. "Same Old Story" and "Raging Storm" are good tracks, but not knockouts for me. Cyndi's emotionally powerful vocals make "Set Your Heart" my favorite track on the CD, "When your heart is beating black & blue, and the cold world is looking back at you & you think that love is round the bend, go on turn around, you'll see, I will always be your friend." "Rain On Me" has a slower pace and strong vocals. However, much of the rest of the set fails to connect with me. Lauper has created so much interesting music that I hope this CD finds its audience. Enjoy!