Aimee Mann

Talented singer-songwriter Aimee Mann first appeared on the scene back in the mid-Eighties with post-New Wave group ‘Til Tuesday and its one-hit catapult and corresponding video “Voices Carry.” Who knew the statuesque lead singer would craft such biting yet tender and slyly humorous songs, dripping with juicy pop hooks, on albums like the stellar Bachelor No. 2 from 2000. Certainly not Epic Records, which kept the ex-Tuesday singer embroiled in legal battles for years, blocking her from a solo career until the 1993 release of Whatever. That album overflowed with punchy power pop, which lately has cooled slightly into finely wrought and layered productions, the kind that earned an Oscar nomination for her song “Save Me” from the Magnolia soundtrack. But one constant throughout her career is a voice of fragile strength, quavery and vulnerable yet full of conviction. An Elvis Costello-like quality touches Mann’s music; she seems to be one of those underrated artists forever toiling just out of the spotlight while consistently putting out music of the highest quality.