DAVE VEITCH -- Calgary Sun
FROM THE CHOIRGIRL HOTEL
Tori Amos
Most of Tori Amos' fourth solo album (in stores
Tuesday) was written soon after her recent
pregnancy ended in miscarriage.
From The Choirgirl Hotel, however, does not
sound like an album about anguish and loss.
Certainly, the experience is alluded to in her usual
elliptical lyrics ("She's convinced she could hold
back a glacier, but she couldn't keep baby alive"),
but the music is rarely morose and insular.
On the contrary, it's often rhythmic and lively, and
finds Amos branching out and expanding her
girl-at-the-piano sound.
Among the standouts: Raspberry Swirl, a
Bowie-esque glitterball stomp accented by
pounding piano chords, overdubbed vocal gasps
and screeching guitars; and Cruel, which intertwines
marimba with a lazy, trip-hop beat to sensual effect.
Amos still comes across as the Next Kate Bush,
but now she sound like Bush circa The Dreaming
or Hounds of Love, as opposed to Bush circa The
Kick Inside. Beautiful in spots, unsettling in others,
but always compelling.