Tori Amos Talks To ‘New York’ Magazine About ‘Midwinter Graces’
On Wednesday I shared a bunch of promo images of Tori Amos from the liner notes of her new holiday album Midwinter Graces and I expressed that the disc is absolutely one of her best albums ever. Hearkening back to Tori’s early solo music, Graces sounds like the classic Tori Amos that we all know and love. Today we get to read an interview that Tori did with New York magazine about her new album wherein she talks about how she made Xmas music in her own style by first educating herself on the origins of Xmas carols:
It’s been a busy year for singer-songwriter Tori Amos: After releasing her tenth studio album, Abnormally Attracted to Sin, in May, she found time during the ensuing tour to record her first holiday-themed record, Midwinter Graces, which arrived in stores yesterday. Her dramatic piano lines are intact, but the album deviates from Amos’s traditional style (most notably, it includes Christmas songs). As the daughter of a Reverend, Amos grew up surrounded by theology, and Graces is steeped in interpretations of old religious hymns. Vulture spoke with Amos about her new album on the phone from her home studio in Cornwall, England.
How did your upbringing influence this album?
There’s all kinds of memories. I remember driving to North Carolina when
I was a little girl in a snowstorm to get down to my mom’s family in the Carolinas. There were chains on the car — it was the late sixties — and we were just singing in the car. Christmas carols. And it was one of those things where of all the music that my dad turned me on to, the Christmas carols are what I related to a lot more than any religious music that the Methodists were pushing.
But these songs don’t stick to classical interpretations.
I love the classic crooners, but I got that from my mother — she worked in a record store. But my dad was a minister, so …
It’s more hymnal based.
Oh yeah. But during research I thought, Why does this music sound better than the other hymns? Little did I know at the time, but a lot of those songs used to be popular drinking songs and sea shanties for the Brits. “Nowell” — the correct spelling is N-O-W-E-L-L — there’s this book called the Oxford Book of Carols which tells you the origins of the melodies. Some of them go back so far. And what would happen is, these new denominations would be popping up and they’d think, “Oh, God, we need some hit songs.” So they’d take a popular song and put Christology to it. I’ve carried on the tradition. I’ve done variations of the themes that were variations of the themes.
What are some of the variations?
I did go to the Peabody Conservatory and figured that it needed to come in handy somewhere down the line. So I decided [to] bring in the string section, bring in the big band. And I love the big band and I think that’s where you get the song “Pink & Glitter.” And I think that was inspired by those old crooner songs.
Is writing in this style harder for you?
Well, in order to make this kind of record and to have it work, I needed to know what the carol writers were doing, then you need to know the theology of where it came from in order to change it. I did change it in making it more inclusive rather than exclusive. Because some of these lyrics were written, it was in a very puritanical time. Women had no rights, they couldn’t vote. Some of the music would’ve been fifteenth century.
I love Tori Amos interviews, I always end up learning something new. Did YOU know that Xmas carols were written as drinking songs back in the day? I love that! Even before I heard the album, I knew that Tori would do her research first and then make the traditional songs we thought we knew into something wholly hers. I cannot stress enough how great this album is … I’m very happy to read in the comments that some of y’all agree that Midwinter Graces is one of Tori’s finest albums. If you’ve yet to hear it for yourselves, you can listen to the album in full HERE … and if you love it, I urge you to buy a copy to own. This album actually makes me look forward to Xmas … cuz it reminds me that what we are really celebrating is the Winter Solstice :)
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Tags: 'Midwinter Graces', New York Magazine, Tori Amos
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November 13th, 2009 at 8:42 am
What has Tori done to her face? She was such a beauty.
November 13th, 2009 at 12:38 pm
I’ve heard some of Tori’s stuff, not a lot, I’ll admit, but this sounds very interesting. See, that kind of information is what gets someone interested in checking out an artist’s work. I’ve known of her peripherally (I mean, I think it’d be rare if someone hadn’t!), but I haven’t delved into her stuff. Perhaps there’s a suggestion of a where to start or a compilation that would give a decent “taste” to her stuff, to get started with?
Trent?
November 13th, 2009 at 12:46 pm
@jay — ‘Little Earthquakes’, her debut, is quintessential Tori. ‘Under the Pink’, her second, is my fave album … ‘from the choirgirl hotel’ is a great taste of her electronic-y sound … ‘Scarlet’s Walk’ is a great concept album, full of amazing songs that tell a very beautiful story.
November 13th, 2009 at 12:52 pm
Thanks, Trent! I copied/pasted the “list” and I’ll do some searching out for those. Appreciate it.
Never too late to bring in a new fan, right?
I definitely will be trying out the Graces album, as she has me intrigued.
Thanks!
November 17th, 2009 at 5:59 am
Trent, I just love that you love Tori. I always enjoy reading your take on her. I posted this once already but I’ll say it again, I agree that Midwinter Graces is an amazing album. It really captures that holiday feeing without getting preachy or cheesy. Bravo to Tori!