Charmer | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | September 18, 2012 | |||
Recorded | Stampede Origin, Los Angeles | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 38:02 | |||
Label | SuperEgo | |||
Producer | Paul Bryan | |||
Aimee Mann chronology | ||||
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Singles from Charmer | ||||
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Charmer is the eighth studio album by singer-songwriter Aimee Mann, released by SuperEgo Records in the UK on September 17, 2012, and in the US on September 18. [1]
The album was produced by Mann's bassist, Paul Bryan, and features a guest appearance by The Shins frontman James Mercer, who duets with Mann on the track "Living a Lie." It debuted on the Billboard 200 at No. 33.
Laura Linney and John Hodgman star in the music video for the first single, "Charmer." [2]
The video for the second single, "Labrador," is a shot-for-shot remake of the video for "Voices Carry," the 1985 hit of Mann's former band, 'Til Tuesday, with the exception of Town Hall replacing Carnegie Hall. [3]
Aggregate scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
Metacritic | (73/100) [4] |
Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
Allmusic | [5] |
American Songwriter | [6] |
Blurt | [7] |
Consequence of Sound | [8] |
musicOMH | [9] |
No Ripcord | [10] |
PopMatters | [1] |
Rolling Stone | [11] |
Under the Radar | [4] |
Uncut | (8/10) [4] |
Charmer so far has a score of 73 out of 100 from Metacritic based on "generally favorable reviews". [4] Jody Rosen, in Rolling Stone magazine, criticized its lyrics and production concluding "[T]here's little new here, and even less charm". [11] Allmusic, however, was more positive, citing its hooks as "spiky and precise", and concluding that it was "an immediate, engaging pop record". [5]
Other reviews are positive: Filter gave the album a score of 84% and stated that "Thirty years in, Mann continues to charm, a hidden glint in her eye." [12] Mojo gave the album four stars out of five and called it "an Americana and power-pop confection with piano and tasteful guitars swaddled in the choicest vintage tones." [4] The Independent gave it a favorable review and called it "Another sweet viper's bite of post-Freudian dyspepsia from the singersongwriter who loves to mistrust." [13] Paste gave it a score of 7.8 out of ten and stated: "The simple fact that Aimee Mann continues writing songs around these distressing observations and putting them out on such achingly beautiful records seems proof that-despite all the twisted, cutting truths she's spied under the lens of her artistic microscope—she still somehow clings to the sable cloud's silver flash." [14] The A.V. Club gave it a B and said that Mann "is able to match her ideas to music with real kick." [15]
Other reviews are average or mixed: Q gave the album three stars out of five and called Mann "good and snarky". [4] The New York Times gave it an average review and said it "represents a sunny term for [Mann], at least in relative terms." [16] The Boston Globe , however, gave it a mixed review and stated: "Too many tracks flirt with flat inconsequentiality, and too often the lyrics slip by without the sting of Mann's normally incisive wordsmithery." [17]
All songs written by Aimee Mann, except where noted.
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