You may think it was the most unusual piece of music news to hear, when Cyndi Lauper announced a little musical detour to country music for her new album. However, Cyndi’s a woman with many sides to her.
Over the years, she’s already explored many genres, variating from pop, reggae, dance, rock to her current attempt in country music. She’s even written music for the musical “Kinky Boots” and in fact, the most craziest Christmas album I have in my closet, is hers. As well as one of my favorite 80s album, which would have to be “True Colours”, with the beautiful album cover. Yep, I was a bit of fan back in the day.
Back to now though, the album “Detour” is scheduled for release on May 6th, but little by little more details and more tracks are being shared. The album is a collection of classic country songs from the 40s, 50s and 60s.
Around Christmas, Cyndi dropped her cover of Dolly Parton’s “Hard Candy Christmas”, which will be featured on the album.
In January, Cyndi performed with “Heartache By The Number”, which was expected to be the lead single, but unexpectedly, she’s decided to go with “Funnel Of Love” instead.
During the performance, shown below, she also turned one of her breakthrough hits, “Time After Time” into an amazing country song (and that’s a lot coming from a non-country fan like me).
In the promotion leading up to the album release, Cyndi has already admitted that her usual cheekiness will be part of the album. In an interview with Rolling Stone, she explained how she didn’t want the album to sound clinical.
The, already mentioned, “Heartache By The Number” most certainly isn’t. It’s a great rendition of old fashion country rock you would expect from Elvis Presley. No wonder, she’s channeling her in the moves during the performance.
“Detour” will feature guest appearances from Vince Gill, Emmylou Harris, Alison Krauss, Jewel, and Willie Nelson. The tracks included are:
"Funnel Of Love" "Detour" - Featuring Emmylou Harris "Misty Blue" "Walkin' After Midnight" "Heartaches By The Number" "The End Of The World" "Night Life" - Featuring Willie Nelson "Begging To You" "You're The Reason Our Kids Are Ugly" - Featuring Vince Gill "I Fall To Pieces" "I Want To Be A Cowboy's Sweetheart" - Featuring Jewel "Hard Candy Christmas" - Featuring Alison Krauss
Over the years, I’ve already learned not to underestimate her. Vocally, she’s incredibly versatile. From the moment I heard about this project, I’ve been confident she could pull this off. Having heard some of the tracks now, I am still confident. It won´t be an album that I´d play often, but because it´s Cyndi Lauper, I will be listening to it.
