Bachelor No. 2

Five years after the sublime I'm With Stupid and Aimee acolytes are now having to contend with the shock of Manna from heaven in the shape of her contributions to the Magnolia soundtrack and this more focused, full-length release. Tough times indeed!

Bachelor No.2 was planned as the Geffen follow-up to I'm With Stupid but became lost in the cull which followed that label's swallowing by Seagrams, so she simply bought back the masters and released it through her website. And lest anyone think that website-only releases are a euphemism for odds'n'sods collections let me stress that this 13-track album is a fully-formed, near flawless work which stands alongside the very best output of Aimee Mann's career.

The chorus of the opening 'How Am I Different?' sets the album's lyrical tone, with Mann declaiming "And just one question before I pack/When you fuck it up later, do I get my money back?" It's a measure of her sublime gifts - not to mention effortlessly engaging vocals and Jon Brion's subtly sophisticated production - that at no point do proceedings descend into an Alanis-like whingeathon. 'Red Vines' may well be the finest song she's ever written (well up there with 'Stupid Thing', 'J For Jules' and '4th Of July'), 'Calling It Quits' hints at her decade-long problems with the industry and Elvis Costello turns up as co-writer on 'The Fall Of The World's Own Optimist'.

Bachelor No.2 may yet find distribution in this part of the world, but in the meantime you really should do yourself a favour and savour the talents of one of the world's finest artists.

* Bachelor No.2 is only available through the internet and can be ordered via www.aimeemann.com