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Cyndi Lauper burst onto the world stage as the quintessential girl who wants to have fun. After more than 20 sterling years and global record
sales in excess of 25 million, she has proven that she has the heart and soul to keep her legion of fans compelled by her every creative move.
With her newly minted collection, "Bring Ya To The Brink," Cyndi firmly asserts her position as one of the most beguiling, innovative, and
downright exciting recording artists of this — and or other — generation.
"This is an album that can be experienced in two completely different ways," Cyndi says, ...read more
Cyndi Lauper burst onto the world stage as the quintessential girl who wants to have fun. After more than 20 sterling years and global record
sales in excess of 25 million, she has proven that she has the heart and soul to keep her legion of fans compelled by her every creative move.
With her newly minted collection, "Bring Ya To The Brink," Cyndi firmly asserts her position as one of the most beguiling, innovative, and
downright exciting recording artists of this — and or other — generation.
"This is an album that can be experienced in two completely different ways," Cyndi says, explaining that Bring Ya To The Brink is a "dance
album, one that you can move to and enjoy on a surface level. But if you want more than that, there's a lot to discover inside the lyrics.
There are times when these songs get pretty deep."
The genesis of Bring Ya To The Brink, a title culled from the lyrics of the percussive stand-out jam "Lyfe," lies within Cyndi's unique, often
sharp-edged observations of the world.
"I am always inspired by what I see every time when I step outside my door," she says. "The world is filled with fascinating people struggling
and surviving and living their lives the best way they can. The more I see, the more I write down. For me, the words become my views of life
and my poetry."
For Cyndi, the idea to dress the poetry that fills her 12th career album in the vibrant threads of dance music was logical. "I liked the contrast
of music that could be celebratory, and even pretty against words that are sometimes a little intense," she says.
With that concept in mind, Cyndi began an adventurous series of production and songwriting collaborations with some of the top guns of the
international club scene. For starters, she enticed Britain's Basement Jaxx, famed for such dance classics as "Red Alert" and "Where's Your
Head At," to embark on their first-ever non-remix artist collaboration. Their kinetic chemistry in the studio has resulted is the electro-funk
future-hit "Rocking Chair."
While in London, Cyndi teamed up with critically acclaimed New Wave revivalists Dragonette (noted for several turntable hits that include "I
Get Around") for "Grab A Hold," which derives its bounce from a hypnotic pogo beat and an effusive, synth-lined melody. For the smoldering,
house-flavored "Give It Up," she enlisted underground U.K. remix-renegades Digital Dog (Rhianna's "SOS" and "Those Where The Days" by
Lady Sovereign).
After a fruitful trek through the British dance world, Cyndi set out to discover the cultural beauty of Sweden — not to mention its plush dance-
pop scene. "I'd never written in Europe before," she says. "It was exciting and a little scary for me. There were times when it was really
challenging. But it was, ultimately, a lot of fun. I love the music that came out of these collaborations."
While in Sweden, Cyndi scored a fistful of creatively successful collaborations in working with Kleerup, Peer Astrom, and Axwell. In an act of
one good turn deserving another, she invited the Sweden-bred Scum Frog onto her home turf of New York City for an undeniably electric
musical rendezvous.
With Kleerup, who is still collecting accolades for their production of Robyn's international smash "With Every Heartbeat," Cyndi crafted "Lay
Me Down," which deftly utilizes her guttural lower vocal register — not to mention her penchant for lacing her melodies with industrial-spiked
new-wave rhythms.
Producer/composer Peer Astrom (Madonna, Britney Spears) provided a instrumental foundation for the imminent turntable anthems "Into The
Nightlife" and "Echo," both of which are characterized by their icy-cool beats, smokey synths, and Cyndi's starkly drawn prose. It is perhaps
during these songs that the artist's stylistic thru-line from '80s pop-siren to modern-day eccentric-genius is most profoundly evident.
Cyndi delved deeper into underground club terrain with the world-renowned DJ/producer Scum Frog (Kylie Minogue, Dirty Vegas) for the
thumpy "High & Mighty," while producer/remix Axwell contrasted a frenetic back-beat with soothingly reassuring keyboards on the
melancholy "Rain On Me" — which showcases Cyndi's most elegant and affecting vocal since her classic "Time After Time."
Along similarly emotional lines is "Lyfe," on which Cyndi is paired with DJ EMZ for a '70s/Funkadelic-flavored throwdown that examines the
struggles of life, while reaching for the higher-power that brings us to our collective feet.
For all of its sumptuous European flavor, Bring Ya To The Brink gets much of its heart from Cyndi's powerful collaboration with Washington,
DC-based club-maestro Rich Morel, lauded for his remixes of hits by Nelly Furtado, Mariah Carey, New Order, and the Killers, among
numerous others.
"This guy's got the goods, and he truly understood the heart and soul of this project," Cyndi proclaims, adding with a laugh, "and, God help
him, he understood me!"
Together, they crafted the stellar, stand-out compositions "Same Ol' Story," "Set Your Heart," and Lauper's personal favorite, "Raging Storm."
"I love all of my songs," she says. "But there's something about 'Raging Storm' that tugs at my heart a little bit more. It looks at the way that
we can all become pre-occupied with the wrong things in life at one time or another. In the end, though, if we're lucky, we find our way to the
truth of life."
For Cyndi, part of life's truth is exacting fairness, equality, and an overall good for the people she loves. It's to that end that she founded the
landmark True Colors concert tour, which begins its second annual journey across America in June 2008. The 24-city trek will strive to once
again combine great music with a show of solidarity against discrimination and for equality and raise public awareness about the issues facing
the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community.
"It is absolutely insane to me that people are not allowed simple civil rights in this country simply because of their sexuality," she says.
In gathering artists that include the B-52s, Indigo Girls, Joan Jett & the Blackhearts, and Joan Armatrading, among others, Cyndi is fulfilling a
desire to give back to the community for the love and support they have given her throughout her career. The tour is a joint venture with the
Human Rights Campaign (the nation's largest organization working for GLBT equality), as well as PFLAG, Centerlink, and the newly created
True Colors Fund of the Stonewall Community Foundation.
"It's an honor to always have the genuine affection of the gay community," Cyndi says. "They have never turned their back on me. I will
never turn my back on them. We've had a long and enduring love affair."
The roots of that affair can be traced to 1985, during which Cyndi won a Grammy award for Best New Artist and became the first artist in
history to have five top-10 singles from a debut album. Along the way, she continually won accolades as a singer, musician, actor, and writer.
She has been nominated for 13 Grammy Awards, 2 Emmy Awards, 2 American Music Awards, 7 American Video Awards, 18 MTV awards.
As an actor, Cyndi has appeared in such motion pictures as Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle (Fine Line/Mirimax), Life With Mikey
(Touchstone), Off and Running (Independent), and Vibes (Columbia/Imagine). Perhaps most notable has been her affecting, acclaimed
performance opposite Christopher Walken in The Opportunist (Independent). In 2006, Cyndi made her Broadway debut as Jenny in The
Threepenny Opera.
In the realm of television, Cyndi has proven her screen prowess in Queer as Folk (2005), Live and Kicking and Noel's House Party (both for
the BBC), and her Emmy award winning performance (Outstanding Guest Performance in a Comedy Series) as Marianne Lugasso on Mad
About You (94-99). Cyndi has also lent her talents to other film and TV projects, voicing animated projects for Disney and The Simpsons, as
well as scoring soundtracks for the films Off and Running and Private Property and the title song for Nick Cassavete's Unhook The Stars.
When she's not writing and performing, Cyndi has also developed her skills as a director, frequently working at the helm of her music video
clips, as well as lensing commercials for the Trivial Pursuit's "Totally '80s" boardgame.
But it's as a master craftsman of her own recordings that give Cyndi her greatest sense of accomplishment. With Bring Ya To The Brink, she
has raised the creative bar, hitting what is destined to mark another career watermark of success.
"I still have so much to say and share," she says. "I'm grateful for each and everyday that I get to make music. As long as there's a corner of
the world where people want to hear me, I'll be there… singing my heart out."
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