Aimee Mann

The first new solo album in five years for Aimee Mann, Mental Illness, signals a welcome new arrival from the beloved singer-songwriter.

If you fell in love with earlier albums like Bachelor No. 2 and the Magnolia soundtrack, the gorgeous melodies and deliberate gait of this return to contemplative form will seem deliciously familiar. A star of MTV in the ‘80s and singer and lyricist for ‘Til Tuesday, Aimee Mann’s tuneful music has evolved in a nuanced way that deeply reflects her life’s journey.

The New York Times proclaimed her “one of the finest songwriters of her generation,” and NPR Music named her “one of the top 10 living songwriters” alongside the likes of Paul McCartney, Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen. Paste opined: “She is innately tuned into our fragility and resilience. Like the Velvet Underground’s Nico, she’s our mirror. Through her songs, she reflects life as it so often is—a contorted, gasping mess—but somehow she still finds beauty in its imperfection.”

Validation came not just from the Grammys, but the Oscars, as she earned an Academy Award as well as Golden Globe nominations for best original song for “Save Me,” part of an acclaimed song score for Paul Thomas Anderson’s Magnolia that ensured her voice would carry to entirely new audiences.

Before her contributions to Magnolia, she made a quick, quirky screen appearance in The Big Lebowski as a German nihilist/kidnapper. She’s witty enough to have been named one of The Huffington Post’s “13 Funny Musicians You Should Be Following On Twitter” and serious enough to have been invited to perform for President Obama and the First Lady, sharing the bill with Common at a private, poetry-themed White House gig.

Aimee Mann has appeared in film and television and continues to delight her loyal fans, while at the same time cultivating new fans with her seriously whimsical and deep songwriting.