Any consideration of the songwriting craft would be incomplete without the inclusion of American singer/songwriter Aimee Mann. From her first steps as singer and bass player with 1980s synth pop band ‘Til Tuesday, who scored a massive MTV hit with ‘Voices Carry’ in 1985, she has continually produced starkly autobiographical songs, with a sense of melody that cuts through the emotional detail.

With a career now spanning almost forty years, she has built a catalogue of nine studio albums, from debut Whatever to 2017’s Mental Illness, since going solo in the early 1990s. Via a series of record label frustrations, Aimee has developed into a fiercely independent recording artist, flying outside the mainstream. Her critical acclaim has never wavered, however, and while happy to continue working in a niche market, her soundtrack for the film Magnolia and the accompanying Oscar nomination raised her profile considerably, adding to her stalwart army of fans.

This book gives an overview of Aimee Mann’s career from her earliest days when she ‘made it big’ with ‘Til Tuesday, through her solo career, investigating every recorded track. It is a comprehensive guide for fans and new listeners keen to investigate a double Grammy winner who is also a true original and whose work deserves to be much more widely recognised.

A music fan for as long as he can remember, Jez Rowden worked in record shops for many years, absorbing music of all kinds. He enjoys many genres and has been involved in writing album and concert reviews, mostly within the progressive rock field, for nearly 15 years, also acting as editor for the ‘Dutch Progressive Rock Pages’ (DPRP) website and currently ‘The Progressive Aspect’ (TPA) which he helped found in 2013. His previous book for Sonicbond covered the music of Steely Dan’s Walter Becker and Donald Fagen. An avid gig goer, he lives in Swansea.

Jez Rowden

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