Cyndi Lauper's Time After Time has a new dance version featuring Tones And I and Australian producer CYRIL. Released by Spinnin' Records on October 23, 2026, the remix retains Lauper's original vocal while adding electronic rhythms and a second voice. Behind the release is a musical friendship that had already brought the two singers together onstage in 2025 for a performance of the classic.
Cyndi Lauper's voice remains at the center when the new Time After Time begins. The familiar guitar opening creates an immediate link with the original recording before CYRIL's production introduces another rhythmic setting. Tones And I then adds her own performance, bringing three different musical histories together around a song that has remained recognizable for more than four decades.
Released on October 23 through Spinnin' Records, the version combines the American artist associated with the original, Australian singer Tones And I and her compatriot CYRIL. The producer has previously found success revisiting established songs through contemporary dance arrangements. Here, the starting point is a melody and performance listeners already know, rather than an entirely new composition.
The production develops around the familiar elements instead of immediately replacing them. Original vocals and the opening chords remain identifiable as electronic textures and a steadier dance pulse enter. A clock-like sound adds another connection with the idea of time. Those choices create a different environment for the song while keeping its earlier identity audible inside the new arrangement.
Tones And I enters as the chorus approaches, adding a distinctive vocal color alongside Cyndi Lauper. The version is not a complete re-recording with the original singer replacing her earlier performance. It uses that existing vocal, with additional singing and new production. Describing those roles accurately matters when explaining how the collaboration was assembled and what listeners are hearing.
The song first appeared on She's So Unusual, Cyndi Lauper's 1983 debut album, and was written with Rob Hyman. It later topped the Billboard Hot 100 for two weeks. Its restrained melody and promise of lasting support offered another side to the performer whose more exuberant Girls Just Want to Have Fun had also introduced her to a broad audience.
The original arrangement leaves substantial room for the voice, with guitar and supporting instruments allowing the melody to remain clear. CYRIL uses that recognizable quality as a foundation for the electronic treatment. The new production changes the setting and the physical sense of the rhythm without removing the recording's central connection with the voice that first made it famous.
The collaboration grew from an existing connection between Cyndi Lauper and Tones And I. Lauper said she had already been listening to the Australian singer's music before they met after a concert. Their conversation included the possibility of doing something together, although no particular project had been fixed. The eventual remix gave that earlier intention a specific musical form.
Tones And I later told her that she and CYRIL were preparing a dance version of Time After Time. Lauper heard the production and approved the result, allowing the project to move forward with her involvement. The release therefore developed through a relationship and an interest in the music itself, rather than beginning solely with a routine invitation to add a famous name.
For Tones And I, the song also carries a family memory. She recalled hearing it while growing up with her father, with whom she shared many musical preferences. Her attachment to the recording preceded both the remix idea and her personal meeting with Cyndi Lauper. Working on the new version brought that childhood familiarity into a present-day professional collaboration.
The two singers had already performed Time After Time together in 2025. Tones And I has described that appearance as particularly meaningful and has spoken of Lauper as a mentor. The current release is a separate studio production, not an audio recording taken from that concert. The earlier encounter explains their connection without being confused with the source of this new version.
Tones And I, whose real name is Toni Watson, became internationally known through Dance Monkey in 2019. Its success across numerous countries established her instantly recognizable voice, while twenty-four nonconsecutive weeks at No. 1 created a major Australian chart record. The remix places that distinctive sound within a melody already established by another artist, asking her to contribute to a shared setting.
CYRIL, born Cyril Riley, works in electronic music from Darwin. His 2023 treatment of Stumblin' In and subsequent remix of Disturbed's The Sound of Silence helped establish his approach to familiar material. Those releases supply context for his latest collaboration, in which an existing melody becomes the basis for a new rhythmic function while retaining a link to the earlier recording.
Cyndi Lauper has also recalled the personal atmosphere of writing Time After Time, describing a sensation of someone placing a hand on her shoulder as she completed the lyrics. She linked the unexplained feeling with the way ideas gradually find their place during songwriting, a process she still values. That memory remains attached to a composition now heard through many interpretations. The new remix adds another version with her original vocal, Tones And I's contribution and CYRIL's production. No accompanying music video or joint tour has been announced.
IMAGE_CREDIT: Supplied
