I was pretty skeptical of the new album. I liked Night of the Hunters pretty well, but, kind of like Pallett says, I sort of liked it from a distance ... I don't think I made it through a single listen of "Abnormally Attracted..." ... totally forgot Gold Dust existed ... the last really good Tori album in my book is probably The Beekeeper, which, despite its bloatedness, boasts a lot of songs that genuinely sound and feel like Tori songs, rather than Tori songs trying to sound like Tori songs.
Anyhow... I've listened to the new album two times now, and I have to say: it's really good.
It's good on its own, and it's good as a Tori Amos album. The piano is back at the front of a lot of the mix, but some of the tricks she's learned from larger arrangements are sharpened to their most pithy points, coaxing a lot of sound from a few instruments. There are a few lyrics on the album that are devastatingly beautiful.
All that is to say: if you've ever been a Tori fan, check out the new album. It's solid at first listen, and I'm pretty sure it will pay back dividends over time.
1. "I think it's her first successful grown woman album" In response to Reply # 0
If I put her career in a timeline I'd say she came in and rode success off of being ahead of her years in theme and sound. But as she turned the corner of not being young anymore, of really just being of her age her 'wisdom' seemed that much more forced and insincere, because she hadn't really lived it, she just thought she had earned it. Then she tried to reach back and show a relevance just a tad younger than her years which just was uncomfortable imo, even when it was halfway decent to good.
I think her daughter has probably grown enough to challenge her and force her to a new place. Pure speculation with probably a bit of projection but I think ultimately motherhood phase two brought her back down to earth. Even on Night of the Hunters you could hear it a bit, though the format of the album made it less personal. And harder to digest as individual songs.
But on this it's clear. She's come into her older self. This album is full of gems and her writing (both musical and lyrical) just seems to be in the place of comfort she came in the door with. Very refreshing.
4. "RE: I think it's her first successful grown woman album" In response to Reply # 1
>If I put her career in a timeline I'd say she came in and >rode success off of being ahead of her years in theme and >sound. But as she turned the corner of not being young >anymore, of really just being of her age her 'wisdom' seemed >that much more forced and insincere, because she hadn't really >lived it, she just thought she had earned it. Then she tried >to reach back and show a relevance just a tad younger than her >years which just was uncomfortable imo, even when it was >halfway decent to good.
I think this is pretty on point. I think, too, that she managed to create an image for herself in the space of a few albums that quickly became *the* Tori Amos, the eccentric artist who talked about fairies and spirits and spoke earnestly about her songs as her children, furthered all the more by a devoted fan base and her musical/extra-musical connections (Trent, Gaiman). The image didn't leave a lot of space for growth over time. You're probably right that motherhood broke her out of that, too.
>But on this it's clear. She's come into her older self. This >album is full of gems and her writing (both musical and >lyrical) just seems to be in the place of comfort she came in >the door with. Very refreshing.
You can actually listen to this alongside Little Earthquakes and hear it almost as a companion piece: an older and wiser companion piece.
Tori still makes some of the most beautiful music being created behind that piano. Listening to "Weatherman" as I type that. "Oysters" is another beautiful one. They're all over the place here.
I thought "Giant's Rolling Pin" was a cool track with its bouncy feel. Loving the piano on the title track.
Not much to complain about here at all.
It's interesting witnessing her maturation as an artist. It's like even her uptempo joints have this relaxing feel to them. There just doesn't seem to be as much anguish in her spirit anymore (which is natural for someone living a comfortable life of creativity) and while that might disappoint some people, I'm happy for the woman and still enjoy her music immensely.
3. "I listened once so far on spotify and had the same basic first impressio..." In response to Reply # 0
Sonically/Production wise it pretty straightforward, but some of the songwriting and piano parts sounded incredible. I periodically try listening to her other later albums and think there's still always been good stuff and she never totally 'fell off', just made albums that weren't as strong as the earlier stuff.
I liked how he referred to Fiona as her "finest heiress'
i never listened to Owen Pallett...gonna check him out soon
5. "RE: I listened once so far on spotify and had the same basic first impre..." In response to Reply # 3
>Sonically/Production wise it pretty straightforward, but some >of the songwriting and piano parts sounded incredible. I >periodically try listening to her other later albums and think >there's still always been good stuff and she never totally >'fell off', just made albums that weren't as strong as the >earlier stuff.
Her albums always had a handful of tunes that stood out. And who knows, maybe I'll change my mind about some of the later ones. I know that for a long time, I really didn't "get" Scarlet's Walk or the Beekeeper, but I came around to really admire both of them (think I wrote posts on that ages ago). But records after that have never been wholly convincing or moving... like Pallett says, I've felt like it's more me than her, in a way.
>i never listened to Owen Pallett...gonna check him out soon
I really like his stuff - I think he has an album coming out in a week or two. I'm less familiar with his older stuff, but Heartland and some of the ep releases around that album really wowed me. It's a different sound, almost restrained, definitely informed by a lot of modern classical influences.
She's still nutty as ever but there are a few bits of musical insight here, too. She talks about a handful of tracks on an individual basis: Hotel, Juarez, Professional Widow (Merry Widow performance off the Hey Jupiter EP), Datura, some others, and some of the stuff from the new album.
Most interesting sort of music nerd info: she talks a bit about drum loops on Datura, and how Matt Chamberlain (drummer) was playing drum pads through a series of guitar amps and pedals as shit. Which gives at least one explanation for why the drums on "from the choirgirl hotel" and "to venus and back" are so freaking great...
the production on Boys For Pele through Venus and Back is still so good to me, but there was definitely some awesome drum stuff going on in the two you named
I remember at the time, people made a big fuss about the jarring difference b/w Boys for Pele and from the choirgirl, not to mention To Venus and Back. When I go through my biannual tori listening phase these days, I'm always struck by how well those albums actually fit with each other.
In some ways, like Tori notes, *Boys* was really the awkward one, not the latter lps: with its short interludes, its somewhat schizophrenic approach to songcraft and genre models, and culmination of Tori's lyrical absurdness... I'm surprised that one got canonized so quickly...
(((seriously, if you take tracks from that one-by-one, they are a real hodgepodge and so far from what she was doing on Under the Pink, it's amazing to think of her deciding they fit well together...)))
(((Little Amsterdam is still underrated as shit)))
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