I first heard Aimee Mann when she released her debut solo Whatever in 1993. That was a great album which I will write about later. The album was good enough for me to do a bit of research and learn she was lead singer in 80's synth pop band Til' Tuesday who had a hit in the states with Voices Carry. In New Zealand Til Tuesday's albums were not that easy to find (but when you did they were usually very cheap!). However Everything's Different Now was impossible to find and I eventually picked up a copy on a trip to the US. If anything it is better than her impressive solo debut but it covers much the same ground. Breakup of both band and relationships.
It also includes a couple of impressive songwriter collaborations with the gem of a title track with Matthew Sweet and The Other End of the Telescope with Elvis Costello. However that is not to undermine the quality of the remaining Aimee songs - all uniformly of a high standard. Particularly good are J for Jules written about her breakup with Jules Shear from the band, and Limits to Love and (Believed you were) Lucky.
While the album is still drenched in 80's keyboards the strength of the songwriting comes through and you can hear a few more guitars coming through.
Aimee Mann has had a solid career since releasing many good albums but it is this one I keep coming back to.
As an added bonus here is a nice clip of Aimee and Sarah McLachlan moonlighting together doing housecleaning and yardwork for obnoxious yuppies in Portland. It starts about 2 minutes in - but the whole clip is worthwhile
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