Mental Illness is the ninth studio album by singer-songwriter Aimee Mann. It was released on March 31, 2017, by SuperEgo Records. Mann has described it as her "saddest, slowest and most acoustic" album to date.

In an interview with Elle magazine, Mann said that the song "Goose Snow Cone" was inspired by a photo of a friend's cat which she received while on tour in Ireland. The song "Patient Zero" was written following a meeting Mann and her husband, Michael Penn, had with actor Andrew Garfield.

The album features contributions made by Ted Leo, who collaborated with Mann on their duo project, The Both.Jonathan Coulton co-wrote "Patient Zero," "Good For Me," and "Rollercoasters" while The Long Winters' John Roderick co-wrote "Poor Judge."

The bulk of album was recorded on Mann's record label, Superego, by Paul Bryan at Mayberry PCH recording studio. The strings, whose part was arranged and conducted by Paul Bryan, were recorded separately at United Recordings Los Angeles by Ryan Freeland.

The first single from the album, "Goose Snow Cone", was released on January 17, 2017. On March 27, 2017, Mann performed the song on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.

A second single from the album entitled "Patient Zero" was released on March 8, 2017. The music video features actors Bradley Whitford and James Urbaniak.

As opposed to her previous album, Charmer, which was defined as a "solid, punchy pop rock" album, Mental Illness consists of acoustic guitars, strings and percussion. Ryan Bray from Consequence of Sound defined it as the musical "equivalent of washing your mouth out with soap" and stated that it "smacks of cold reality".

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Wikipedia