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Aimee Mann On World Cafe

Aimee Mann's latest album is <em>Mental Illness</em>.
Sheryl Nields
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Courtesy of the artist
Aimee Mann's latest album is Mental Illness.

Aimee Mann joins World Cafe for an interview and to perform songs from her new album, Mental Illness, her first solo record since she took time to collaborate with indie rocker Ted Leo in their duo The Both.

Mann says the sound of her new album was influenced by recordings from the late '60s and early '70s:

"I think that the touchstones for the sound would probably be early Leonard Cohen records or Neil Young's Harvest. You know, Ted Leo and I ... when we were on tour we started listening to Bread, almost as a joke — but you listen to those records, they sound so great."

Mann co-wrote much of Mental Illness with Jonathan Coulton, who's internet-famous for his songs about geek culture and who joins her in the studio for this session. Hear it in the player above.

Copyright 2017 XPN

David Dye is a longtime Philadelphia radio personality whose music enthusiasm has captivated listeners of World Cafe® since 1991. World Cafe is produced by WXPN, the public radio service of the University of Pennsylvania.