Aimee Mann - Bachelor No. 2 (2004) [SACD]

Bachelor No. 2 is the product of a woman whose 40th birthday looms months ahead, and it illustrates how a little seasoning has paid off creatively for Aimee Mann. Always an incisive lyricist, the eloquent singer-songwriter further hones her wordplay to a razor-sharp edge. Her subjects are so adroitly sliced and diced that little blood is shed, though they're permanently cut down to size. "Calling It Quits" targets some cad who is "numbering himself among the masterminds 'cause he's hit upon the leverage of valentines." Not that Mann spares herself from a steely assessment: "I know I had it coming / From a Caesar who was only slumming" she admits in "The Fall of the World's Own Optimist." Though this 13-track collection borrows three songs from its immediate predecessor, Mann's soundtrack to Magnolia, its musical ingenuity and consistency (notable considering five different production teams are credited here) make the scattered redundancies irrelevant. Mann's artistic growth has been evident with each new release, and Bachelor marks her biggest leap forward to date. --Steven Stolder