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I pull out this screenshot every couple of months, when I am once again:
The first Aimee Mann song I heard was “Red Vines”, which appears on the playlist 165 house of mirrors. I’ve long been enamored with her songwriting, not to mention the scarves she wears in her live performances. Her lyrics are arresting, like catching yourself in the mirror and being surprised by what you see. In “Red Vines”, she writes:
And tell me, would it kill you
Would it really spoil everything
If you didn't blame yourself
Do you know what I mean?
The song I included as the title track of this playlist, “Knock It Off”, is from Mental Illness (2017), her newest record. In a live performance for KEXP, she says that she’s been “working her way” to this album, and it feels absolutely true; songs like “Rollercoasters” and “You Never Loved Me” are among my favorites across all her work.
The second track is from the new Cassandra Jenkins record, An Overview of Phenomenal Nature (2021), which I first heard featured on an episode of New Music Friday. Her voice reminds me of Emily Haines & the Soft Skeleton and Aldous Harding.
I discovered the new Katy Kirby record while poking around on Spotify, and sent “Cool Dry Place” to both pop- and indie rock-leaning friends. I love the lyric:
Ten segments in an orange
Only so many ways that you can pull apart someone
because it plays with my favorite lyrical device of extended metaphor surrounding a desperate narrator (a la Phoebe Bridgers’ “Moon Song”, “A Beast” by MAITA, and Mitski’s “Your Best American Girl”).
Track three is off Charlie Hickey’s EP Count the Stairs (2021). I found his music through Phoebe Bridgers (she sings background vocals on “Ten Feet Tall”) and have been waiting patiently for an EP since the release of his first single, “No Good at Lying.” His lyrics instantly captivated me; on this song he sings:
I don't know who you are
You must be some combination of
People in my subconscious
If I had to highlight one artist on this playlist, it’s him.
I’ll save my Olivia Rodrigo superfan diatribe for another issue, but suffice it to say I think she’s a perfect angel genius. In a recent YouTube video, she mentioned the song “Disarm” by The Smashing Pumpkins, a band whose discography I’ve only recently gotten into. On her recommendation, instant playlist addition.