By: Caitlin Hoffman
For BiggerThanBeyonce.Com

My only wish for the music industry is that every female vocalist takes something from folk singer Aimee Mann. It’s not that the female leads of today’s pop groups and bands can’t belt it out (though, unfortunately, many of them can’t), or even that their corporately produced lyrics don’t have enough depth (though, sadly, lots of their lyrics are as poetic as a cereal ad). It’s the fact that I have yet to find a female lead who carries the same soulful feeling, as well as the calmly sorrowful edge that resonates in Aimee Mann’s voice and music, her haunting melodies all prime candidates for getting stuck in your mind. Each one of her albums are a step forward musically, as she is an explorative artist who is always pushing her own boundaries.

For someone just being introduced to her, the best place to start would be her album ‘Lost in Space’, released in 2003. This album takes a definitive mark on her as a musician since it was one of the first albums she released with her own music label. In this album, the songs provoke images of darkened, rainy days, heartbroken lovers pounding silently on cement, greasy hair and darkened eyes, chapped lips sucking on the end of a cigarette. It is crooning, and bitter, and sinks into your cerebellum like opium. Constantly standing on the edge between indie folk music and indie rock, this album leans more to the mellow, beautifully paralysing angles of her folk style.

Where is she now? Not sitting on her ass, that’s for sure. In fact, she’s scheduled to perform at the ‘Stand in Haiti’ benefit in her hometown, LA. That action proves that not only is she a true musician, but she’s one who really cares about humanity. Thankfully, such a fact isn’t only shown through her emotionally and politically charged songs, but through her actions.

So, if you want to check her out, watch below. And, to any corporately soul-sucked female singers: take notes.

4 Responses to “EXPLORING SPACE WITH AIMEE MANN”