Mental Illness Aimee Mann

• 1Goose Snow Cone03:35
• 2Stuck in the Past03:33
• 3You Never Loved Me03:07
• 4Rollercoasters03:44
• 5Lies of Summer02:42
• 6Patient Zero03:41
• 7Good for Me04:09
• 8Knock It Off03:01
• 9Philly Sinks03:14
• 10Simple Fix04:12
• 11Poor Judge03:33
• Total Runtime38:31

Info for Mental Illness

Aimee Mann's Mental Illness, her first album in five years, will be released on March 31 via her own SuperEgo Records. The record follows 2012's Charmer, which Rolling Stone proclaimed "shows off the more pop-oriented side to her usual acoustic tendencies." With this follow-up, she returns to a more musically soft-spoken but still lyrically barbed approach, as heard in the album's lead single, "Goose Snow Cone," which is out now. Mental Illness shows off Mann's rich, incisive and wry melancholia in an almost all-acoustic format, with a "finger-picky" style inspired by some of her favorite '60s and '70s folk-rock records, augmented by haunting strings arranged by her longtime producer, Paul Bryan. Additional players include: Jonathan Coulton on acoustic guitar and backing vocals, Jay Bellerose on drums, Jamie Edwards on piano, John Roderick as a co-writer and Ted Leo (who recently joined her in a joint side project, The Both) as a background singer. On this eleven-track album, the Oscar-nominated, Grammy-winning singer remains a student of human behavior, drawing not just on her own experiences to form the characters in the songs but tales told by friends. "I assume the brief on me is that people think that I write these really depressing songs," Mann says. "I don't know - people may have a different viewpoint - but that's my own interpretation of the cliché about me. So if they thought that my songs were very down-tempo, very depressing, very sad, and very acoustic, I thought I'd just give myself permission to write the saddest, slowest, most acoustic, if-they're-all-waltzes-so-be-it record I could; I mean, calling it 'Mental Illness' makes me laugh, because it is true, but it's so blunt that it's funny." After several albums with Til Tuesday, Mann began her solo career in 1993 with the album Whatever and made a name for herself through her independent success and the founding of her record label, SuperEgo Records. In addition to her solo albums, she has appeared on many film soundtracks, most notably the song score for Paul Thomas Anderson's Magnolia, with "Save Me" landing her Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations for Best Original Song. In 2014, Mann joined up with Ted Leo for a more rock-oriented duo project, releasing a self-titled album under the name The Both. Other extracurricular activities since Charmer ranged from playing herself on the hit TV series Portlandia to performing for President Obama and the First Lady at the White House. Named one of The Huffington Post's "13 Funny Musicians You Should Be Following On Twitter," Mann has gained a diehard social media following for her quick wit and stinging observation.

"Calling an album Mental Illness invites audiences to consider the collection confessional. Savvy singer/songwriter that she is, Aimee Mann is surely aware her compositions are often construed as autobiography, which is precisely the wrong way to view her work, especially on an album as intricate as this. Designed as the "saddest, slowest, most acoustic" record she could create, Mental Illness is a suite of character sketches and vignettes exploring all manner of melancholic maladjustment. More than chronic disease, Mann examines the bad behavior, quirks, and delusions that manifest in everyday life, particularly in the course of long relationships. Heartbreak and misanthropy run rampant over the course of the album's 38 minutes, but the remarkable thing about this self-consciously sorrowful album is that Mental Illness doesn't feel depressing. Chalk it up to the lush production from Paul Bryan and wry delivery from Mann, a combination that softens whatever sadness lies at the record's core. In many ways, Mental Illness feels like a deliberate retort to the bright colors of its predecessor, 2012's Charmer. That record intended to make an immediate impact with its candied guitars, whereas Mental Illness takes its time, riding on lazy tempos and breezing by on soft gusts of strings. Which isn't to say that the album lacks hooks: each of the 11 numbers is exquisitely sculpted, with the melody carrying a sense of subdued drama as it marches from verse to chorus to bridge. These songs are crafted in the best sense of the word, with the lyrics delivering sublime twists that the music matches. As such, Mental Illness becomes something of a balm for troubled times; it's an album that finds reassurance within the darkest corners." (Stephen Thomas Erlewine, AMG)

Aimee Mann, lead vocals, bass, acoustic guitar, percussion
Ted Leo, background vocals
Paul Bryan, bass, background vocals
Jonathan Coulton, acoustic guitar, background vocals
Jay Bellerose, drums, percussion
Jamie Edwards, piano, harmonium, acoustic guitar, 12 string guitar
String Quartet: (on track 8)
Eric Gorfain, violin
Marisa Kyney, violin
Leah Katz, viola
Richard Dodd, cello
Amy Wickman, violin
Gina Kronstadt, violin
Terry Glenny, violin
Radu Piepta, violin
Susan Chatman, violin
Aaron Oltman, viola
Rodney Wirtz, viola
John Krovoza, cello
Peggy Baldwin, cello

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