Aimee Mann
@#%&*! Smilers

My recent harsh criticism of the dreadful "Aventine" by Agnes Obel has finally inspired me to talk about an artist I have wanted to review for a long time; a true singer-songwriter, who inspires feelings that are diametrically opposed to the coldness and total detachment of yet another avoidable girl-with-a-piano. Her name is Aimee Mann, and she has always preferred substance over appearance, following an ethic with determination and coherence, even at the cost of giving up a celebrity status that would have been within her reach and that she deserves far more than many others. Aimee has never been angry with the world without cause, she has never jumped on some clownish riot-girl bandwagon, nor has she ever stuffed her beautiful melodies with useless sophistications and third-rate intellectualism; she has always been herself and nothing more, with an intelligence, humanity, and a particular irony that connects her to another singer-songwriter of pure talent, equally resistant to the allure of the jet-set, and my most devoted readers will surely know to whom I am referring.

Stories, careers, styles, and even voices are very different, "she" is a Londoner, Aimee is an American from Virginia, but each has looked at the "microcosm" of the other as a model of inspiration. The countless country digressions of the girl from Croydon are well known and already well documented, and one of the winning cards of the Richmond artist is undoubtedly the happy incorporation of UK-made pop harmonies into a primarily American musical context, achieving a perfect balance between refinement and spontaneity. "@#%&*! Smilers" from 2008 comes after the concept "The Forgotten Arm," excellent on a singer-songwriter level but a bit under the radar musically, overall a step back from the levels expressed until then, but Aimee promptly "redeems" herself with one of the most beautiful, successful, and representative albums of her career. Strong country and folk characterizations and memorable melodies; the final result is practically perfect, as straightforward as always and more complete than the previous "Lost In Space" and "The Forgotten Arm," commendable but a bit too monochromatic. Aimee Mann remedies this by taking a bit from one and a bit from the other, thus finding a splendid squaring of the circle, an impeccable manifesto of her style at the height of her maturity.

"@#%&*! Smilers" is a very straightforward and structurally simple album, with a clear predominance of slow songs and ballads, but the stylistic range is wide and of high level: waltz rhythms paired with intimate and poignant folk, of great emotional intensity as in "Little Tornado" or the indolent and light operatic-pop of "It's Over", the airy gospel inflections of "Medicine Wheel" and "True Believer", which highlight Aimee's warm, rounded, and engaging vocalism; bittersweet and delicate ballads, acoustic (Columbus Avenue), electric (Looking For Nothing), or orchestrated and confidential (Phoenix). "The Great Beyond" and "Borrowing Time" add a livelier and "cinematic" touch with evocative western atmospheres, as well as the brilliant country rock of "Freeway", while the piano-pop fantasies of "Ballantines" with its enjoyable beat rhythm and "Stranger Into Starman", a velvety and dreamy minute and a half of piano and voice plus orchestrations, contribute to creating an informal and relaxed mood, thus ensuring a perfect emotional balance. This is the formula, the perfect alchemy of a beautiful album, arranged with good taste and refinement, but above all, and this is the most important thing, absolutely honest and sincere; it is something you perceive right away, voice, lyrics, and melodies that warm the heart with elegance and naturalness, and as far as I'm concerned, I don't need to ask for anything more.