Long-time Lefort-fave Aimee Mann is back with a new, critically-acclaimed album entitled Mental Illness. As usual with this artist, the album (Mann’s ninth) features superb songwriting, arrangements and performances that frame well Mann’s signature vocals. The sound is a bit more restrained on the new album than on some of her recordings, but sweetly so and embellished by soul-stirring strings, which match well the album’s somber themes (whether, as suggested by some, Mann is merely playing into people’s perceptions of her as melancholic and putting us on a bit–she’s actually oft-hilarious as you can read from her Twitter tweets–or baring all, we leave to you dear discerners).

Today Mann revealed a new video for the affecting song Goose Snow Cone off the album. About the song and video Mann says: “I wrote “Goose Snow Cone” when I was on tour in Ireland, on a cold and snowy day. I was feeling very homesick when I saw a picture on Instagram of a cat I know named Goose. Her fluffy white face was looking up at the camera in a very plaintive way, like a little snowball, and I started singing a little song about her that turned into a song about loneliness. I intended to change the lyrics but could never find a phrase to replace the one I started with. When it came time to make a video, I knew the original Goose had to be in it. Her owners are my friends Rob and Puloma who coincidentally produce and direct videos. One of my cats had recently gone through a long illness and I was thinking about that when I came up with the idea for the video, and I knew Puloma had to star in it, as she has a very lovely and expressive face. The vet in the video is my actual vet and he’s a great guy. It was not easy wrangling Goose but the magic of editing makes it all work!”

We completely concur. Oh, and the song is more melodic and moving magic from Mann (lyrics at bottom).

To get more feel for Mental Illness (the album) check out the previously released video for the similarly magical Patient Zero, which you can watch following today’s video. Mann is also out on tour in support of the album (see dates below the videos).

You can pre-order Mental Illness in all formats along with various accoutrements HERE. The album will be officially released on March 31st.

AIMEE MANN SPRING TOUR

Date	Venue	Location	Tickets	Info
04/20/17	Lincoln Theatre	Washington, DC		with Jonathan Coulton
04/21/17	Keswick Theatre	Glenside, PA		with Jonathan Coulton
04/22/17	The Town Hall	New York, NY		with Jonathan Coulton
04/23/17	The Wilbur	Boston, MA		with Jonathan Coulton
04/25/17	Hart Theatre, Egg Center for the Performing Arts	Albany, NY		with Jonathan Coulton
04/26/17	Danforth Music Hall	Toronto, ON		with Jonathan Coulton
04/28/17	The Ark	Ann Arbor, MI	SOLD OUT	with Jonathan Coulton
04/29/17	Park West	Chicago, IL	SOLD OUT	with Jonathan Coulton
04/30/17	Pabst Theater	Milwaukee, WI		with Jonathan Coulton
05/02/17	Barrymore Theatre	Madison, WI		with Jonathan Coulton
05/03/17	Fitzgerald Theater	St. Paul, MN		with Jonathan Coulton
05/05/17	Boulder Theater	Boulder, CO		with Jonathan Coulton
05/06/17	The State Room	Salt Lake City, UT	SOLD OUT	with Jonathan Coulton
05/08/17	The Wilma	Missoula, MT		with Jonathan Coulton
05/09/17	Neptune Theatre	Seattle, WA		with Jonathan Coulton
05/10/17	Revolution Hall	Portland, OR	SOLD OUT	with Jonathan Coulton
05/12/17	The Fillmore	San Francisco, CA		with Jonathan Coulton
05/13/17	The Theatre at the Ace Hotel	Los Angeles, CA		with Jonathan Coulton

Goose Snow Cone:

“Lookin’ into the face of the goose snow cone
Should be shaking it loose but you do it alone
Every look is a truce and it’s written in stone

Gotta keep it together when your friends come by
Always checking the weather but they wanna know why
Even birds of a feather find it hard to fly

Thought I saw at my feet an origami crow
It was only the street hidden under the snow
Always snatching defeat, it’s the devil I know

Gotta keep it together when your friends come by
Always checking the weather but they wanna know why
Even birds of a feather find it hard to fly

Lookin’ into the face of the goose snow cone
I could pick up the pace but I couldn’t go on
I just wanted a place but I ended up gone

Gotta keep it together when your friends come by
Always checking the weather but they wanna know why
Even birds of a feather find it hard to fly

Lookin’ into the face of the goose snow cone”