Tori Amos would like your attention, and with the release of Under the Pink, her gorgeously arranged, piano-driven follow up to 1992's Little Earthquakes, there's no doubt she'll get it. If Little Earthquakes put her on the map, Under the Pink circles the globe -- with even more personal, confrontational and confessional tales of Amos' life journey. From girl-child prodigy, raised within strict religious confines, to outspoken and free-thinking/speaking/singing fearless woman, Amos ensures us an interesting, if not enlightening trip. Amos challenges just about everyone on this album, not just the usual lovers and emotion-torturers, but her God, parents, other women and herself. Adopting first, second and third personae she acts as a musical guide through emotional judgement to artistic freedom. Her aim is not to intimidate, but to invite the listener into intimate conversation - with herself, with quirky characters with whom she identifies, and with real-life ghosts from her past - those in her present and in her likely future.
The crazed shrills, alarming key shifts and unsettling, yet mesmerizing shrieks plentiful on Little Earthquakes are not gone, but rather subdued, on Under the Pink. This "gentling" of tone in no way takes away from the power of Amos' words and haunting presentation, but, in fact enables her quirky and decidedly more direct lyrics to be more readily processed and her eccentric melodies to be absorbed. Under the Pink most importantly brings forth her gorgeous piano work, showcasing her strongest talent, instead of hiding it behind arrangements a bit too powerful and guilty of overshadowing the simplicity of her delivery and message.
From the unabashed celebration of womanpower incarnate and straightforwardness of "God" ("God sometimes you just don't come through, do you need a woman to look after you?") to the delightfully metaphorical "Baker Baker," fans will not only revel in the stripped-down beauty of these songs, but will also lovingly embrace the task of deciphering this cipher-woman's sumptuous lyrics. On "Baker Baker," the symbolically woven tale of a failed relationship, Amos enlists the "Baker" to bake her a cake (to wit, make her a concise package of seeming sweetness) to "feed" her upon the departure of an ex-lover ("Baker Baker baking a cake make me a day make me whole again and I wonder what's in a day what's in your cake this time."). Ultimately, the hope of a warmth within is covered by icing - cold and apparently unyielding, like her ex-lovers heart. Her reference to the "icing" on this cake is her bittersweet statement on the chilly and numbing finality of the situation.
A complex, beautifully arranged album and compelling musical journey, Under the Pink further confirms Tori Amos' status as gifted musician/goddess and compelling storyteller/guide. It's a trip worth taking.
If you like Tori Amos, check out:
Tori Amos Boys For Pele
Tori Amos From The Choirgirl Hotel
Tori Amos To Venus and Back
Tori Amos Little Earthquakes
Jane Siberry When I Was A Boy
This Mortal Coil Blood
Sundays Reading Writing & Arithmetic
-- Beth Bachtold
