I’ve got a weird story with Aimee Mann’s beautiful music. I was living in Nottingham, and had a video rental place a couple of blocks from my student accommodation (Albion House). On my hour long walk from my gaff to the Environmental Science department, I would listen to a lot of music, most of it bands that I missed growing up, and whatever soothed my nerves.

I’d do some shopping if needed, then pop by the rental store. One pound per DVD for 2 nights (I think). I caught up with a massive back catalogue of classic movies I needed to watch. Some delivered, like Dog Day Afternoon and Apocalypse Now, others left me a little befuddled, like the Godfather and Scarface. No hate to those two flicks, I just felt there was too much hype behind them and I think I fell for it. Should’ve tempered my expectations.

A lot of indie flicks from the 90s never made it to Mexico or I simply couldn’t manage to catch them. Boogie Nights blew me away, so did Living in Oblivion, and Go. One night I was feeling a bit lost and chose Magnolia, one that had been on my list for ages, but I wasn’t so sure about. P.T. Anderson had some hype behind, so I complied.

It’s one of those flicks that really deserve a watch. It has an expansive amount of stories and you’ll identify with a few. Or will experience them later in your life, like I did. The music really spoke to me, and I rented the CD from the music library at University of Nottingham.

Aimee Mann. The name rung a bell, but I thought little about it as I had a few deadlines coming up and Wikipedia wasn’t really a thing. I was done with Yahoo groups and BBS, so couldn’t be arsed to look more on her work.

A woman I fancied had never seen Jerry Maguire and I managed to convince her to watch it with me. I loved the movie since its debut and I was keen on a rewatch. She wasn’t impressed, as she was a Tom Cruise hater, but loved the music, which is a natural conclusion to any Cameron Crowe flick. We looked at the credits. Aimee Mann was right there with Wise Up, which was included also on the Magnolia soundtrack. So we had another date and watched Magnolia.

It didn’t work out with this woman, and that’s fine, life is like that. Cultural differences and all that.

So I was a little down on the dumps and the guy from the music library approached me. We had a some chit chat and he recommended listening to ‘Til Tuesday.

So I rented both ‘Til Tuesday and The Cure’s Pornography. Amazing how both albums helped me after a break up.

“Hey, those vocals sound familiar.” I read the booklet, and there she was. Aimee Mann again.

Her solo albums and ‘Til Tuesdays are massively underrated releases. I know Voices Carry is a little overplayed, but that shouldn’t take away from its powerful lyrics and pop-friendly arrangement. After renting out the whole discography, it was Coming Up Close what truly clicked with me.

A ballad more in tune with college radio, like The Sundays or Grant Lee Buffalo, Coming Up Close is so personal it feels like I’m reading someone else’s diary. Still, the diary entries feel familiar and by all means, I could identify what I was going through with Mann’s lyrics.

Aimee Mann’s music is a soothing balm for broken souls. Heartily recommended.

-Sam J. Valdés López