(PR) After a brief hiatus Aimee Mann returns to the road for an East Coast run of summer tour dates on the heels of last year's critically acclaimed release @#%&! Smilers. Mojo hailed the album "a masterpiece," while People Magazine pronounced "trends may come and go, but real artists, like this singer-songwriter remain."
Never one to rest on the laurels of her past, Aimee has been busy releasing albums and touring for the better part of the last decade. Ending the millennium with a bang, Mann was nominated for an Oscar, a Golden Globe and three Grammys for the Magnolia Soundtrack which released simultaneously alongside her solo album Bachelor No. 2. Mann continued her solo career with the 2002's Lost in Space the second release on SuperEgo Records and then on to her first live CD and DVD Live at St. Ann's Warehouse. With her 5th solo album The Forgotten Arm, Mann delved head first into the realm of the concept album, following up the next year with a turn at a Christmas album One More Drifter In The Snow, an unexpected homage to the spooky beauty of the holiday season.
With thirteen new original songs, Mann's seventh solo CD Smilers has proven to be a return to form. Producer Paul Bryan describes the record as "deceptively powerful...very rich and grand-sounding". The songs range from the stripped-down-to-basics of " Columbus Avenue ", to the almost Cars-esque synth-pop of "Freeway", along side the classic Jimmy Webb/Glen Campbell-era " Phoenix ", and the hushed creepiness of "Little Tornado." The final song "Ballantines" is a duet with Sean Hayes complete with barroom piano and trombone section. All songs were penned by Mann with the exception of "True Believer" which was co-written with fellow singer-songwriter Grant Lee Phillips.
An amalgamation of sounds, Aimee explains "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. We made the low end and rhythm section full and organic-sounding, with Jay Bellrose's quirky approach to percussion 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."Tour Dates:
July 8 Burlington Intl. Waterfront Festival Burlington, VT w/ Steve Earle
July 9 Tupelo Music Hall Londonderry, NH
July 10 Paramount Center for the Arts Peekskill, NY
July 11 Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art North Adams, MA
July 13, 14 & 15 City Winery NYC
July 17 Cape Cod Melody Tent Hyannis, MA w/Duncan Sheik
July 18 Boarding House Park Lowell, MA
July 19 Stone Mountain Arts Center Brownfield, ME
July 21 Infinity Hall Norfolk, CT
July 23 Community Theatre @ Mayo PAC Morristown, NJ
July 24 YMCA Boulton Center Bay Shore, NY
July 25 Rams Head On Stage Annapolis, MD
July 26 XPoNential Music Festival @ Wiggins Park Camden, NJ
Aug 13&14 Teatro Gran Rex Buenos Aires
Oct 3 Rio Theatre Santa Cruz, CA
