Aimee Mann — Lost In Space
Starting out in Til Tuesday (indeed an Mtv favourite in the 80ties), Aimee Mann has become one of the strongest female songwriters out there. With Oscar, Golden Globe and Grammy nominations, composing a soundtrack (for Magnolia) and 3 previous gems of solo albums Lost in Space presents us with her best work to date. The fact that the album, like it's predecessor I'm with Stupid, came out on her own label also greatly helps the music. The freedom has pushed her musical writing to untold heights.
Lost in Space is perhaps the feel-bad album of all time. The album perfectly captures the feeling of isolation and being cut off from other people and oneself. Desperately trying, and desperately failing. With an overall theme of addition throughout the album it would of course be naive to expect a happy -oh I'm a frail girl with a pretty face- music. Everything on this album feels and breath's a detachment of life. From her voice, the music and obviously the lyrics to the artwork (a mini comic by graphic-novelist Seth).
Still this album never crosses over into self-pity or being truly depressing. Every single song has a sort of "lost innocence" to it. Nice melodies, and catchy tunes run rampant through the entire album. Lost in Space remains something you want to hum, or even sing along, to. In a bizarre twist of nihilistic faith it actually turns your frown into a huge smile. The ultimate feel-bad album actually makes you feel pretty damn good. Mostly due to catchy melodies and superb song writing.
Aimee Mann manages to combine very creative song writing with a detached and negative atmosphere, and this is what makes this album accessible to almost every type of person. It doesn't matter if you are a blond airhead or jock and want something easy to listen to. Or if you feel misunderstood by the entire world, find yourself dressing in black a little to often, and just want somebody to make you feel understood. Aimee Mann's Lost in Space is your album for sure.
Not to mention that her lyrics are among the best I know. Easily up there with the best songwriters throughout modern musical history. The clever wordplay and the various ways she uses to describe addiction of all sorts is just amazing. A less attentive listener might not even notice they started to sing along to lyrics that express a desperate need for mind altering substances or about self destruction. While the rest of us can actually spend quite a few hours analysing her lyrics and discovering meanings behind almost every sentence.
I could actually go on and on about this album. I've not even touched upon the fact this is one of those albums you can happily put on repeat forever and never get sick of hearing. But I will leave it with the comment that this is one of the best albums I have ever come across (and I've come across a lot of really good and really bad records).
"There comes a time when you swim or sink
So I jumped in the drink
'Cause I couldn't make myself clear
Maybe I wrote in invisible ink
Oh I've tried to think
How I could've made it appear"
- Aimee Mann Invisible Ink