Charmer is Aimee Mann's 8th solo studio album since fronting the band ‘Til Tuesday in the ‘80s. “The first song I wrote for the album was called ‘Charmer,’ so that’s kind of what started it,” she says. “And there are obviously songs that aren’t really on that topic, but it was a thing that I kept coming back to, because I do think people who are super-charming are really interesting. And I see how charm is on a continuum that goes all the way from people who can talk you out of anything to people who are manipulative to people who are almost a little sinister. They’re usually people who you really like being around in the beginning, because they’re really good at creating an impression that perhaps is tailor-made for you, and that’s very seductive.”
As for the sound of the album, Aimee says, “This time, we bring the guitars back in, and the bands we kind of listened to for reference were the Cars and Blondie and Split Enz. I think if you’re emulating or inspired by that sort of era of radio pop, it’s just by nature more ‘produced.’ This time, I wanted to use more analog synthesizers, because the music I was inspired by was that real ‘70s kind of thing. You know on Parallel Lines, when they were first putting synths in, but they were still being played almost like guitars? When I go back and listen to that stuff now, I go, ‘Oh, this is basically a rock band with just some bloopity bloopity keyboards on top.’” Listen for James Mercer of The Shins dueting on “Living a Lie” and Aimee's husband Michael Penn harmonizing on "Labrador".
Hear the WFUV CD of the Week Thurdays at 8pm on 90.7 FM in New York City (radio broadcast only).
Aimee Mann's upcoming schedule:
10/27/12 The Town Hall
10/28/12 Rubin Museum- Happy Talk series 3:00 pm
10/29/12 Bowery Ballroom
10/30/12 Music Hall of Williamsburg
11/01/12 Tarrytown Music Hall
