Tori Amos’ latest effort, entitled Scarlet’s Walk, is a breath of fresh air after her over-produced work of recent years. Last year’s Strange Little Girls was an uneven album of covers which left the listener unsatisfied, but Tori’s newest album shows a return to the melodic, enchanting songs of her earlier career.
With relatively simple lyrical structures and a graceful use of melody, Scarlet’s Walk is a captivating record. The most pop-sounding tune on the album, “A Sorta Fairytale,” is a catchy reminiscence of one of her favorite days on the road. The chorus recalls her feelings that the day would never end when she says, “And I’m so sad / Like a good book, I can’t put this day back / A sorta fairytale with you.”
Another upbeat tune with catchy lyrics is “Taxi Ride.” The song highlights Tori’s luminescent voice, as the entire album does, and brings to mind driving down the road on a warm summer day with all the windows down.
The only tune that might tempt listeners to hit the skip button is the a cappella “Wampum Prayer.” Although it allows Tori’s ethereal voice to shine, the song is a little boring. Still, the rest of the album does not disappoint, with songs like “Wednesday,” which brings to mind her earlier track “Happy Phantom” and the quietly beautiful “Your Cloud.”
Ms. Amos recently participated in round-table discussion to promote Scarlet’s Walk.
Panel: Your albums always have such distinct voices. How do you feel your style has changed over the years?
Tori Amos: I guess maybe for this album I was drawn to classical structure. Some of the sonic touchstones for me were coming from early Neil Young and also early Pink Floyd. Since this was a road-trip narrative, the geography plays such an important role in this album. We were kind of dissecting the cultures that make up the land and the rhythms.
P: Are there any themes recurring or universal throughout the country, and if so, how did that influence Scarlet’s Walk?
TA: There’s a real kind of general American that you get in Europe. You get this perception when you’re outside of the States that we are the mouthpiece of our government, and I don’t think we necessarily do that.
The impression that it makes is that we aren’t very diversified, and I think when you’re in America it is a very vast place, and it’s easy to spot the difference. I think that what I found on the road last year was a questioning that I hadn’t seen in a long time.
The questioning of, ‘Are the people that are representing this country really a good representation of us?’ It seemed to me that people were starting to relate to this country more, in a traditional Native American way, which was not as an object but as a living being.
P: There is a website called www.meetup.com that brings together different groups across the country, and it had a top-10 list of the most popular themes for groups the website held. Number one was Wiccans, number two was vampires and number nine was Tori Amos. Why do you think such a large following has developed of your music and your general celebrity?
TA: It seems to me in a way that when I look at the songs and I study them, there are a lot of symbols where the interpretation is left open to the listener, including me. This allows people to read what they want into the music and fit the songs to their individual beliefs.
P: Which song off Scarlet’s Walk is your personal favorite, and what does it mean to you?
TA: Well, it changes all the time. I’m just getting to know this work myself. Right now, it’s really about being clear [about] what the theme of this tour is. The theme of this tour is the mythological fire.
[Mythological fire is] the idea that storytellers would come from all around and gather around a fire, and when you would walk away, you would maybe see things differently than when you sat down at the fire. But it’s still far too soon for me to know the answer to your question, because I am still getting to know the work myself.
Tori Amos plays the Riverside Theatre in Milwaukee Dec. 1. The show begins at 7:30 p.m.
