Tori Amos is an American singer-songwriter, pianist, and composer. Known for her singing capabilities, she is vocally and classically trained as a mezzo-sopranist.
Amos won a full scholarship to the Peabody Institute at Johns Hopkins University at the age of five, the youngest person ever to have been admitted. Years later, Amos was the lead singer of the short-lived 1980s pop group Y Kant Tori Read before achieving her breakthrough as a solo artist in the early 1990s. Her songs focus on a broad range of topics, including sexuality, feminism, politics, and religion.
Amos is a multi-instrumentalist, who can perform on the piano, harpsichord, clavinet, and Hammond organ, to name a few. Throughout her career, she is recognized for some of her top-charting singles: “Crucify”, “Silent All These Years”, “God”, “Cornflake Girl”, “Caught a Lite Sneeze”, “Professional Widow”, “Spark”, “1000 Oceans”, “Flavor”, and “A Sorta Fairytale”, her most commercially successful single in the U.S. to date.
The successful artist has received five MTV VMA nominations, eight Grammy nominations, and has won an Echo award for her classical work.
Now examining the new album, the cover art invokes a dark, gloomy, and hazy atmosphere. As I look at the album, I feel instantly sucked into a chilly and eerie forest setting. Her ginger, luscious hair definitely sticks out as a bright spot, something unique within the shady background. Not only that, there seems to be a snake-like shaped smoke, or lasso of mist surrounding her. After all, the album title definitely fits its visual content.
When listening to the album, her taste and genre definitely revolve around alternative rock, baroque pop, chamber pop, classical, electronica, and pop rock. Especially in her first song, “Reindeer King,” the contagious chords and eerie aura definitely send chills down my spine. Her dreamy vocals and complicated runs on the keyboard evoke a sense of peace yet terror. “Cloud Riders” speaks to me through an imaginary point of view. In other words, the thoughts, lyrics, and images that surface when I listen to this song are drawn from my imaginations, aspirations, and from distant places. As for “Chocolate Song,” I was drawn to it mainly because of its title. Her vocals flow as if it is bouncing notes on a steady stream of sweetness and enjoyment. The guitar meshed with her presence ultimately shape the character of the album, one of instinctive, dreamy, and natural essence.
Her fifteenth studio album, Native Invader, released on September 8, 2017.
Stream Tori Amos’ album Native Invader
You can stream the album via Spotify.
Apple Music Native Invader Stream
You can stream Native Invader on Apple Music.
Download Native Invader
If you like to purchase the album, head on over to iTunes.
Native Invader Tracklist
- “Reindeer King”
- “Wings”
- “Broken Arrow”
- “Cloud Riders”
- “Up the Creek”
- “Breakaway”
- “Wildwood”
- “Chocolate Song”
- “Bang”
- “Climb”
- “Bats”
- “Benjamin”
- “Mary’s Eyes”
- “Upside Down 2” (deluxe edition bonus track)
- “Russia” (deluxe edition bonus track)
