AIMEE MANN- @#%&*! SMILERS
Can you make a pop album and jab at pop culture at the same time? The answer is yes if you in turn prove that pop music can have more lyrical substance than what listeners are used to hearing… enter Aimee Mann.
Mann’s new album Smilers takes its title from the derogatory term Mann uses to describe the “Shiny happy pop-culture that surrounds us”.
Mann’s 7th studio record opens with the single “Freeway” a song of new beginnings that a brings a full synth-pop sound. In fact the word full is a good way to describe the record as a whole. The album is considerably more musical than Mann’s previous work, with her signature dark yet strong lyricism still holding down the fort.
“Pheonix” is a lament of a relationship gone sour, while “Looking for Nothing” is a story of wondering when holding on becomes holding on too long.
On “31 Today” Mann sings "Drinking Guinness in the afternoon/taking shelter in the black cocoon/I thought my life would be different somehow/I thought my life would be better by now," a statement on the anxiety of getting older and the insecurity of wondering if you’ve accomplished enough yet.
In the end, Mann brings a knowing voice to all over those “Smiley People” even if they do get on her nerves.
MY GRADE- B+
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