Music Review: Cyndi Lauper - "Bring Ya to the Brink"
Her first album of new material since 2004's Shine (coincidentally a Japanese-only import), Bring Ya to the Brink finds Cyndi Lauper embracing dance-pop full on. Lauper long a dance music enthusiast recruited a veritable who's-who of commercial dance music producers Basement Jaxx; Scumfrog; Richard Morel (of Pink Noise-fame). The results are at once fresh and vintage. Bring Ya to the Brink throbs with early-'90s energy. From the pulsating rhythmns of album-opener "High And Mighty" to the not-so subtle enticements of early-evening pleasers like "Into the Nightlife", 'Brink is engaging from start to finish. The album is, however, easily distinguishable from its dance-pop contemporaries most notably Madonna's Hard Candy by Cyndi's songwriting; Lauper's penchant for folkiness and storytelling remain fully intact amidst the palpitating electronic beats.
Bring Ya to the Brink isn't so much derivative as it is nostalgic its sleekly produced songs reflective of a golden age of popular dance music (a la early-to-mid'90s). "Echo" harkens back to the immortal Robin S/StoneBridge collaborations "Show Me Love"; "Love for Love" while songs like "Same Ol' Story" and "Rocking Chair" allow Cyndi to camp-it-up a tad.
It is important to note that Bring Ya to the Brink isn't Cyndi Lauper's first flirtation with dance music. The early '90s saw Cyndi heavily indulge productions and remixes by none other than Junior Vasquez not unlike her contemporary, Madonna did, circa 1992-94. Indeed, Vasquez served as a co-producer on Lauper's heavily R&B 1993 album, Hat Full of Stars. Regrettably, Junior for all his acclaim as a commercial remixer got it largely wrong with Lauper, his productions revealing a longstanding handicap in his style a preference for novelty over relevance. if you will. Thankfully, Cyndi chose more wisely for Bring Ya to the Brink and the highly enjoyable results speak for themselves.
