Aimee Mann is an American singer/songwriter whose music mixes rock, pop and folk. It’s a hard style to describe, but the closest artists I can think of are KT Tunstall and Amy MacDonald as they also blur the pop/rock boundaries and with Amy MacDonald in particular using the acoustic guitar then there are certainly similarities.
”Charmer” is her eighth studio album and the first since 2008’s ”@#%&*! Smilers”. Talking about the album, Mann comments, “I’m fascinated by charming people and the whole idea of charm. It’s hard to remember sometimes that there is usually an agenda behind the act of being charming, and that is what I’m most interested in. Is someone’s charm being utilized just to try and entertain people, make them feel special and interesting, or is there a more sinister purpose behind it? Sometimes I think ‘charm’ can just be another word for ‘manipulation.’”
The songs are well written with great lyrics, the vocals are superb, and the music is great – I really can’t find anything to criticise with this album. It’s got quite a laid back style, but is still rocky enough to keep it interesting.
This is an amazingly listenable album – I really have lost count how many times I’ve listened to it. It’s so addictive – an excellent album that I can’t recommend highly enough.
Track listing:
1. Charmer
2. Disappeared
3. Labrador
4. Crazytown
5. Soon enough
6. Living a lie
7. Slip and roll
8. Gumby
9. Gamma Ray
10. Barfly
11. Red flag diver
