Press / Coverage
Americana UK Review of “Tattoo” EP
Mannequin Shop is the nom-de-plume of Aaron Lee, from the southern United States, via New York City, to France where he now lives with his family. With a couple of EPs under his belt, his latest EP ‘Tattoo’ represents a change of style and lyrical content towards the americana genre.
The songs are, on the face of it, about love and loss, but Lee points out that he finished the songs just as the American presidential elections took place, and he was left feeling somewhat bereft “feeling like everything was falling apart, and it suddenly hit me that this feeling was the same feeling I’d been having as I contemplated some of the changes in my life and relationships”.
You can see from the first three tracks where he is coming from, ‘I can see it now’, ‘My part’ and ‘No more’. The songs are uniformly interesting with different styles – mid-paced Tom Petty-ish, slow-grower ballad and jaunty pop-infused, in that order. After that, ‘C’est la Vie’ has a jangly mid-70s vibe and, like all the songs, a melodic tune.
The final and title track is the most interesting track here, mid-paced with harmonica in the mix, with the permanence of a tattoo used as a metaphor for the tie that binds you to a lost past, ‘leaving a mark that won’t wash away’, says Lee. The album was produced in Athens, Georgia, with the help of a friend, and it has a nicely balanced feel with its mix of styles, good backing and a versatile voice. Worth investigating.
“Albany’s Own In The Row”
(EXCERPT)
(Aaron Lee) was about eight when his parents took him to the Albany Civic Center to see Diamond Rio in concert, recalls his mom, Tracy Lee. “Tim McGraw opened for them that night and Aaron soaked it all in. The next day I glanced out the window and there was Aaron in the front yard, wearing his cowboy hat and boots, using my broom as his microphone and the sidewalk as his stage. I think that’s when his real dream for this first started.”
Lee taught himself to play the guitar. Soon he was ready to write. “Songwriting often starts as a nervous tic. I’ll be walking away from some situation that caused me anxiety and find myself blowing off some steam by singing my thoughts out loud.”
He made a “top 20” list of songs stored on an old laptop and spent time reworking and rewriting until he was proud of them. Researching recording techniques, Lee built a shoestring home studio, and the debut album was recorded across two continents.
“I did the drums with an old college buddy in Atlanta and the lead guitar came from a young Franco-Swiss guitarist named Erik Mendola.”
“I’ve got the next four or five song collections already mapped out, for the most part,'“ says Lee of the project he dubbed Mannequin Shop because there are so many stylistic directions he wants to explore. “Maybe I feel like I’m as tuned in and creative as I’m ever likely to be, and I don’t want to stop until I’ve got it all out.”
-Excerpt from Southwest Georgia Living Magazine, “Albany’s Own In The Row” by Bonnie Smith, May/June 2023 edition