Streetlight Records

Reviews:

Aimee Mann's last laugh at the music industry's expense should beso long and hearty that she barely has breath left to sing. Thankfully, sheis either too mature for gloating or she's got a great diaphragm, becausethere is nothing breathless about anything Mann has attempted since being kickedto the curb by her former labels. On Lost in Space, her first album sincereleasing Bachelor #2 herself in 2000, Mann stays the course of pop excellencethat she's been charting throughout her solo career.

Mann revisits everything on Lost in Space; her brooding vocals with clenchedback teeth delivery, her unabashed Beatle-esque melodicism, her unwavering senseof the perfect pop song. On "This Is How It Goes," Mann deftly swingsfrom the song's brittle acoustic intro to a swelling baroque pop wave andback again, while throwing in guitar riffs inspired by George Harrison and ElvisCostello. Equally magnificent are the Revolver-meets-Beck thrum of "Pavlov'sBell," Mann's patented loping melancholy on the gender bent "GuysLike Us," and the creeping pop Delta blues of "High on Sunday."

Lost in Space is also Mann's darkest and moodiest album among hersolo works, and even rivals ‘Til Tuesday's gloomy and gorgeous moanfest,Everything's Different Now. Drugs both literal and metaphoricaltake center stage on Lost in Space ("Let me be your heroin,"from "High on Sunday"; "It's all about drugs, it'sall about shame," from "This Is How It Goes"). Even as she detailspersonal and universal shadows in Lost in Space's lyrics, Mann cannotcontain the wry pop smile that informs nearly everything she does musically.In a career of bests, Aimee Mann continues to succeed with the brilliant popmoves that the music industry still doesn't quite comprehend.