Aimee Mann - @#%&! Smilers

Short sly grins, rather than a great big beam

After raising her own bar with 2006’s critically-lauded The Forgotten Arm, Mann could be forgiven for easing off the pedal a little. Whereas the loose concept of that previous album benefitted from focussing on two rounded protagonists with tangible back-stories, @#%&! Smilers (terrible title) gives the impression of a series of half-formed sketches in need of a touch more work.

The non-specific angst of 31 Today (“I thought my life would be different somehow/... Better by now”) shows promise but feels unfinished, and the opening Freeway is a neatly sneering put-down that never really tells us who it’s aimed at. Mann is as literate as ever, a lyricist who takes great joy in language, although here she’s settling for nifty isolated phrases as opposed to coherent narratives.

Acoustic guitars, primitive organs and synths dominate the music, most effectively on Great Beyond and Columbus Avenue, and the vocal diction rings with its usual clarity, even if there appears to be less to say than in the past.

3 stars 3 stars 3 stars

Superego | SE 026

Reviewed by Terry Staunton
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