Cyndi Lauper – Detour (2016)
FLAC (tracks) 24-bit/96 kHz | Time – 38:25 minutes | 841 MB | Genre: Country
Studio Master, Official Digital Download – Source:HDTracks | Artwork: Front cover | © Rhino
Cyndi Lauper’s celebrated musical journey takes an unexpected southern turn on DETOUR, her 11th studio album, which finds the Grammy, Emmy and Tony-winning singer-songwriter putting her signature spin on a dozen classic country songs. DETOUR showcases Lauper’s unmistakable voice on country classics from the 40s, 50s and 60s and features guest appearances from county music stars Vince Gill, Emmylou Harris, Alison Krauss, and Willie Nelson. Lauper recorded the album in Nashville alongside a band comprised of the city’s top session players. The album is Lauper’s first for Sire Records and executive produced by legendary Sire founder, Seymour Stein.
A spiritual sequel of sorts to Memphis Blues, Detour finds Cyndi Lauper swapping out blues for country & western. The “western” part of the equation is crucial to Detour, a record equally enamored of cowboy camp as it is of Music City craft and corn. Such a wide purview is testament to Lauper’s taste-savvy show biz sensibilities, but by balancing ballads with riotous romps, she winds up with a bit of a mess on her hands. On their own, the slow-burning-torch set pieces of “End of the World” and “I Fall to Pieces” have their charms – they offer ample evidence of Lauper’s nuance and control, elements that are often underrated – but when paired with the ferocious, mincing wink of “You’re the Reason Our Kids Are Ugly,” “Cowboy Sweetheart,” and “Detour,” the spell is broken. Matters aren’t helped much by the presence of Dolly Parton’s “Hard Candy Christmas” – a fine, faithful rendition that closes off the record on a sweet note –= and the crisp, digital modern sheen of the opener “Funnel of Love,” elements that pull Detour even further down a winding backroad. Such sudden shifts in tone might work better on-stage than they do on record, and with its cavalcade of guest stars, Detour often does play a bit like a stage revue, for better or worse. After all, much of Lauper’s charm lies in her innate theatricality, and when she’s paired with someone who shares her humor – Emmylou Harris on “Detour” and, especially, Vince Gill on “You’re the Reason Our Kids Are Ugly” – there’s a crackling vitality that nevertheless winds up diluting the diva showstoppers, something that could possibly be finessed on-stage but seems like a sharp turn on record. Nevertheless, on a track-by-track level, Detour has a few stumbles – the biggest is “Night Life,” and that’s due to the gravelly growl of Willie Nelson, not Lauper – and if it’s taken as a collection of performances and not a coherent record, it’s fun.
Tracklist:
01 – Funnel Of Love
02 – Detour (feat. Emmylou Harris)
03 – Misty Blue
04 – Walkin’ After Midnight
05 – Heartaches By The Numbers
06 – The End Of The World
07 – Night Life (feat. Willie Nelson)
08 – Begging To You
09 – You’re The Reason Our Kids Are Ugly (feat. Vince Gill)
10 – I Fall To Pieces
11 – I Want To Be A Cowboy’s Sweetheart (feat. Jewel)
12 – Hard Candy Christmas (feat. Alison Krauss)
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