Aimee Mann

As a songwriter, Aimee Mann has managed to carve out a territory that is largely her own.  Her recent studio recording, The Forgotten Arm, makes abundantly clear that Mann’s approach to song draws on literary models and finds inspiration in fiction’s wider possibilities—in case anyone missed this in her earlier work.  The Forgotten Arm is a musical extended narrative, following some principle characters into a world that echoes that of hardboiled fiction.  The CD’s artwork, including a table of contents and chapter headings, builds on what Mann sets up in song.  All of this finally repositions the audience, forcing a different kind of listening, one that gives the writing itself a bigger role in the experience.  It’s a move that leaves you listening for the threads of story as much as for the melodies carrying them.  This capacity to alter the orientation of the listener is among Mann’s conspicuous gifts as a songwriter.
Aimee Mann first came into public view as the leader of and songwriter for ‘Til Tuesday, a band that enjoyed a massive hit with “Voices Carry” and then had to live under that song’s weight.  As is frequently the case, when a young band scores a hit on that scale the curse comes when they attempt to establish artistic credibility.  The world either condemns them for having had such quick success or screams in their ear, asking them to play that song again.  Not much in the middle, really.  It’s an unenviable position that inspires envy nonetheless.  After three records, ‘Til Tuesday disbanded.  But if you listened closely, you could hear Aimee Mann emerging even before the band broke up.