Aimee Mann's 'Mental Illness' Streaming Now on NPR First Listen

Mental Illness shows off Mann's rich, incisive and wry melancholia in an almost all-acoustic format, with a "finger-picky" style inspired by some of her favorite '60s and '70s folk-rock records, augmented by haunting strings arranged by her longtime producer, Paul Bryan. Additional players include:Jonathan Coulton on acoustic guitar and backing vocals, Jay Bellerose on drums, Jamie Edwards on piano, John Roderick as a co-writer and Ted Leo(who recently joined her in a joint side project, The Both) as a background singer.

On this eleven-track album, the Oscar-nominated, Grammy-winning singer remains a student of human behavior, drawing not just on her own experiences to form the characters in the songs but tales told by friends. "I assume the brief on me is that people think that I write these really depressing songs," Mann says. "I don't know-people may have a different viewpoint-but that's my own interpretation of the cliché about me. So if they thought that my songs were very down-tempo, very depressing, very sad and very acoustic, I thought I'd just give myself permission to write the saddest, slowest, most acoustic, if-they're-all-waltzes-so-be-it record I could...I mean, calling it Mental Illnessmakes me laugh, because it is true, but it's so blunt that it's funny."

In support of the release, Mann will play a headlining North American tour this spring with stops in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Boston, Philadelphia and more. Tickets can be purchased here: aimeemann.com/tour. See below for complete tour details.

After several albums with Til Tuesday, Mann began her solo career in 1993 with the album Whatever and made a name for herself through her independent success and the founding of her record label, SuperEgo Records. In addition to her solo albums, she has appeared on many film soundtracks, most notably the score for Paul Thomas Anderson's Magnolia, with "Save Me" landing her Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations for Best Original Song.

In 2014, Mann joined up with Ted Leo for a more rock-oriented duo project, releasing a self-titled album under the name The Both. Other extracurricular activities since her previous record Charmer ranged from playing herself on the hit TV series Portlandia to performing for President Obama and the First Lady at the White House. Named one of The Huffington Post's "13 Funny Musicians You Should Be Following On Twitter," Mann has gained a diehard social media following for her quick wit and stinging observation.

MENTAL ILLNESS TRACKLIST

Goose Snow Cone

Stuck In The Past

You Never Loved Me

Rollercoasters

Lies Of Summer

Patient Zero

Good For Me

Knock It Off

Philly Sinks

Simple Fix

Poor Judge

AIMEE MANN LIVE
April 20-Washington, DC-Lincoln Theatre

April 21-Philadelphia, PA-Keswick Theatre

April 22-New York, NY-The Town Hall

April 23-Boston, MA-The Wilbur Theatre

April 25-Albany, NY-The Egg Center For The Performing Arts

April 26-Toronto, ON-Danforth Music Hall

April 28-Ann Arbor, MI-The Ark

April 29-Chicago, IL-Park West

April 30-Milwaukee, WI-Pabst Theater

May 2-Madison, WI-Barrymore Theatre

May 3-Saint Paul, MN-Fitzgerald Theater

May 5-Boulder, CO-Boulder Theater

May 6-Salt Lake City, UT-The State Room

May 8-Missoula, MT-The Wilma

May 9-Seattle, WA-Neptune

May 10-Portland, OR-Revolution Hall

May 12-San Francisco, CA-The Fillmore

May 13-Los Angeles, CA-The Theatre at Ace Hotel