@#&! Smilers
@#%&*! Smilers is Aimee Mann's seventh solo release to date, and a return to form after the artistic detours of 2005's concept album The Forgotten Arm and 2006's Christmas CD One More Drifter in the Snow.
Featuring thirteen new original songs, producer Paul Bryan describes @#%&*! Smilers as 'deceptively powerful ... very rich and grand-sounding.' The songs range from the stripped-down-to-basics of Columbus Avenue, to the almost Cars-esque synth-pop of Freeway, alongside the classic Jimmy Webb/Glen Campbell-era Phoenix, and the hushed creepiness of Little Tornado.
The final song Ballantines is a duet with Sean Hayes complete with barroom piano and trombone section. All songs were penned by Mann with the exception of True Believer which was co-written with fellow singer-songwriter Grant Lee Phillips.
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