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The Edge (Australia)
Setember 7, 2007

Strike a Posse

by Mitch Jordan

A chance encounter with two different women provided the inspiration for Tori Amos' latest album, American Doll Posse.

Waiting in line at Starbucks, Tori was confronted by a woman who told her that her boyfriend had to fight in the war, and another who urged her to "tell it like it is."

The best way for Tori to do this was to reinvent herself through five different women, each based upon the Greek pantheon: Isabel (Artemis); Clyde (Persephone); Pip (Athena); Santa (Aphrodite); and Tori (Demeter and Dionysus).

"In order to remember the self and become part of the divine femining I really had to dissect it," Tori says. "I had to pull the pieces apart and look at them and say, 'Hang n a minute. If I'm honest with myself, I've worked a lot in y life as a warrior'."

Each of the 23 songs on American Doll Posse address issues like war, feminism and love. These have featured throughout Tori's previous albums, but by singing about them through the eyes of the women in her posse, Tori was able to explore them from multiple perspectives. From the bittersweet "Yo George" (an open letter to the president) through to the crazy garage rock of "Teenage Hustling", the album runs the gauntlet of music and emotion.

Dressing up has been a cathartic experience for Tori, who believes that both men and women are often limited by their self-image. "I think a lot of people feel trapped," she says.

"This is what really spurred me on, because when we feel trapped, I do think it's easier for us to be controlled, and seduced into thinking all kinds of things. Or, when we feel trapped, our lives are so heavy, we're distracted, so we're not looking at what's happening to our world.


original article



[scan by Sakre Heinze]

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