Features
Aimee Mann Returns To Form With @#%&! Smilers
The run kicks off June 2 at Largo in Los Angeles and will hit mostly outdoor venues through the end of July.
Stops include House of Blues in Anaheim, Calif. (June 6), the Minneapolis Zoo (June 12), Bonnaroo Music Festival in Manchester, Tenn. (June 15), Chatauqua Auditorium in Boulder, Colo. (July 9), Deer Valley Resort in Park City, Utah (July 12), Stewart Park in Rosebud, Ore. (July 15), and the Calgary Music Festival in Alberta (July 24).
Smilers, which is due June 3, marks a return to a more traditional sound for Mann after 2005’s concept album, The Forgotten Arm, and 2006’s Christmas CD, One More Drifter in the Snow.
The album features 13 new original songs penned by Mann with the exception of “True Believer,” which was co-written by fellow singer/songwriter Grant Lee Phillips.
Mann says the new disc is a complex amalgamation of sounds.
“We tried not to echo any previous albums…for this one we wanted to use a different palate, thus replacing electric guitars with distorted Wurlitzers, Clavinets and analog synthesizers,” the singer explained.
“We made the low end and rhythm section full and organic-sounding, with Jay Bellrose’s quirky approach to percusson and my acoustic guitar together. For this album, the acoustic guitar is present in a new way, one that melds with Jay’s rhythm section and acts as an adjunct to the high-hat.
“On top of that, we layered detailed interwoven keyboards and on select songs added a lush string section; on others a full horn section.”
To hear what Mann’s talking about before Smilers hits the streets, click here to listen to “Thirty One Today” from the new release.