Seasoned performers make sharp but refreshing musical turns

LAUPER. Career-boosting “Detour.”

SHE’S SET to turn 63 years old next month (on June 22)—but, Cyndi Lauper, the idiosyncratic songstress behind such ’80s pop hits as “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun,” “Time After Time” and “True Colors,” continues to live up to the title of the debut album that turned her into a global superstar in 1983: “She’s So Unusual.”

With the release of her 11th studio recording, “Detour,” Lauper makes a sharp but refreshing turn—by going country!

Cyndi’s surprisingly radio-friendly country album features accessible covers of Patsy Cline’s 1961 classic, “I Fall to Pieces,” and Wanda Jackson’s western-themed “Funnel of Love.”

The lineup also banks on the songstress’ appealing collaborations with Emmylou Harris (“Detour”), Willie Nelson (“Night Life”) and Jewel, in the yodel-garnished “I Want to be a Cowboy’s Sweetheart.”

But, the album’s uniquely “countrified pop” concept is best served by Lauper’s torchy singing of Skeeter Davis’ “The End of the World,” her zany duet with Vince Gill (“You’re the Reason Our Kids are Ugly”), and “Hard Candy Christmas,” sung with soulful introspection with Alison Krauss.

Originally rendered by Dolly Parton in the screen musical, “The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas,” the stirring show tune is guaranteed to tug at music lovers’ heartstrings!

Bill Murray

Stellar covers

While we’re on the subject of musical detours and stellar covers, the soundtrack of Jon Favreau’s “The Jungle Book” gathers the songs and musical snippets, mostly written by Oscar-nominated composer John Debney, that helped set the mood and atmosphere of Disney’s sleeper hit.

But, the album has engaging cuts that further boost its novel musical allure: With sass and class, Scarlett Johansson (who voices the Indian python, Kaa) sings “Trust in Me,” based on a show tune originally written by the Sherman Brothers for, but not used in, “Mary Poppins.”

Christopher Walken

If you prefer numbers that you can groove to, Bill Murray and Christopher Walken’s participation in the film and its soundtrack doesn’t disappoint.

Murray voices the sloth bear, Baloo, while Walken is tasked to breathe life into the well-loved tale’s giant orangutan, King Louie.

Murray and Walken’s fun-filled renditions of “Bare Necessities” and “I Wanna Be Like You,” respectively, are wackily character-sung
—and crisply rendered to feisty perfection!