Aimee Mann has a brilliant new album out called Queens of the Summer Hotel with songs about mental illness and identity, all inspired by the book Girl, Interrupted. The album is new but the songs are not, mostly written and recorded before Aimee had a career-threatening health scare. About a year ago, she lost part of her hearing, leaving her unable to pick up on certain frequencies. What had been music before became what she describes as a fuzzy, distorted electronic sound. 

This presented a significant problem for Aimee as a musician and songwriter. It was like having broken instruments and gear but much more significant because you can’t just swap out your own head at a music store. Eventually, Aimee found that the problem was coming from her brain in the form of stress and trauma. With that knowledge, she set about addressing those issues and began to make progress. She says she’s about 80% recovered.

Turns out sometimes it helpful to not think of “mental health” as something separate from “physical health”. There’s just health.

Get your copy of Queens of the Summer Hotel wherever albums are sold. Follow Aimee Mann on Twitter @aimeemann.

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