Aimee Mann Mental Illness
Album stream , Mar 23, 2017

"For 44 minutes, Mann slips into the skin of someone walking an emotional tightrope, and it’s an act she pulls of with grace and conviction."

91 % Consequence of Sound

"Mental Illness wallows in its troubles, and it’s an exquisite wallow."

90 % The New York Times

"Mann has earned her reputation as a master songwriter on the coherence of her artistic choices. As in good short stories, every element in her songs works to support a single theme."

86 % Paste Magazine

"Mental Illness is first and foremost an album about achieving self-sufficiency through trail and blunder. And in doing so, she once again stands tallest, and quietest, in an exceptionally consistent career."

80 % No Ripcord

"An album rooted in the low end of the emotional spectrum is a risk, but through fastidious instrumental detailing and lyrics that evince sympathy even when they’re at their most cutting, Mann crafts a melancholic atmosphere that is worth repeated listens, whether as a means for catharsis or as a well-crafted cloud to ease the punishing brightness of a too-sunny day."

80 % Boston Globe

"Like the 1999 film Magnolia that earned Mann an Oscar nomination, Mental Illness would make a similarly engrossing mosaic of stories for the big screen."

80 % Record Collector

"These songs are crafted in the best sense of the word, with the lyrics delivering sublime twists that the music matches. As such, Mental Illness becomes something of a balm for troubled times; it's an album that finds reassurance within the darkest corners."

80 % AllMusic

"Her lyrics are full of witty puns, comic exaggerations and double-entendres accented by her sense of timing and intonations. The lines drip with bon mots that begin straight and then bend unexpectedly."

80 % PopMatters

"A compelling consistency of mood makes Metal Illness easy to get lost in. [May 2017, p.94]"

80 % Mojo

"Mann's best work has always lingered on such private reverie, and Mental Illness is one of her most ravishing and affecting hymns to solitude."

80 % Slant Magazine

"Juxtaposing elegant chamber folk against the discord of lives out of balance, it’s musically more delicate than even her soft rock models."

78 % Pitchfork

"This is a solid addition to Mann's estimable discography, the kind of record that sets a mood and sustains it for 39 craftsmanlike minutes."

75 % Chicago Tribune

"While Mental Illness doesn’t stray too far from the beaten path, it does offer something new for seasoned Mann watchers."

70 % Classic Rock Magazine

"Mental Illness remains more of the same, never quite hitting any peaks, and never missing a step either."

55 % Under The Radar