Yahoo! Music has just posted a new video of a live performance by Tori Amos of the seasonal track Pink & Glitter taken from her new holiday album Midwinter Graces … here are a few screencaps from her performance:

I’m not sure if Tori plans to release traditional music videos or singles from this album so live performance videos like this might be all we can expect. As far as potential songs to release off the album as singles, you really can’t go wrong with Pink & Glitter. After the jump, check out the video in full …

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Britney Spears isn’t the only performer on tour in Australia these days, Tori Amos — who just released her amazing first-ever holiday album Midwinter Graces — is also on tour in Oz and played a show at the famed Opera House in Sydney, Australia yesterday (which is actually today for us). Here are a few pics of Tori on stage in Sydney and some excerpts from a recent interview she did for the Sydney Morning Herald:

Tori Amos is obsessed with a three-letter word: sin. In 2005 she came to Australia with The Original Sinsuality Tour, her new tour is called Sinful Attraction and her 2009 album, which comes with erotic photos of Amos (including one of her posing provocatively in bondage gear), is titled Abnormally Attracted to Sin – a line that was inspired by the 1955 Guys and Dolls musical. “As soon as I heard [the actress] Jean Simmons say that I put the movie on pause and never went back to it, just because my mind as a minister’s daughter went into a completely different place,” Amos says. When asked what kind of place that is, however, Amos becomes shirty. “Well, you have the record,” she says shortly. “That kind of place.” The record creates a dark and troubled terrain filled with power struggles, sadomasochistic imagery and – of course – plenty of sin. “I’m attracted to the idea of what sin is and how it’s been defined for hundreds of years because, frankly, the patriarchal fathers have the power to define us and how women view their bodies, and the fact they have this power is the greatest sin, an abuse of their power,” Amos says. “So, as a minister’s daughter, I’ve been fascinated with how church authorities have been able to influence and control and divide the masses within themselves.” Even though many people know of Amos thanks to her earlier, more radio-friendly songs such as Cornflake Girl and Crucify, the topics behind her songs have always been dark and complex, such as Me and a Gun, which was inspired by Amos’s experience of sexual abuse (she later co-founded the RAINN [Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network] helpline). “Journalists used to ask me years ago, ‘Why don’t you want to write happy pop songs?’ and I felt like saying to them, ‘Why don’t you want to be funny?’” Amos says. “Meaning you have to accept what your strengths are and what kind of writer you are. I do think some people excel at making happy little catchy tunes and then there are writers that are strong when they’re going after multi-levelled subjects and subjects that are hard to talk about – and that’s kind of where I’m most comfortable, in talking about the uncomfortable” … Whereas American Doll Posse was influenced by her unhappiness with George Bush, Amos says her new songs are “very much about what women are going through right now”. For example, the song Ophelia tells the tale of a woman repeatedly choosing to be in abusive relationships, Maybe California is about a mother contemplating jumping off a cliff and Strong Black Vine talks about religious intolerance. “A good musician is a reflector of the times, monitoring the emotions of the masses,” Amos says. “Events determine what songs show up and that I’m able to be a scribe for. “These songs are very much from the perspective of a woman who’s observing people losing their homes and their lives and kids being told they can’t go to college – if you travel now across the States, there are people saying ‘I don’t know what my life is going to be because I was planning on going to university and that’s gone, because my parents have lost everything,’ and they’re working a job to try and save the money to go to a community college and you begin to realise the magnitude of what this crisis has caused,” she says. “So friends and families are being torn apart, there’s great upheaval and there’s always opportunity in upheaval. ‘People are trying to find what their strengths are, what their gold is – not monetarily but what their spiritual gold is – and the record talks about different emotions.”

Gah, reading this interview makes me want to see Tori Amos live again. Even tho I got to see her in concert a few times this past Summer, I can never have enough. I won’t even go into how much IN LOVE I am with Midwinter Graces since I’ve already mentioned it a few times. Tori will play another performance at the Sydney Opera House tonight (which is actually tomorrow for the folks in Oz). Any Aussies out there attend either of these two shows?

[Photo credit: Wireimage; Source]

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.

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 :)

[Source]

On Tuesday, Tori Amos released her first ever holiday album titled Midwinter Graces (which you can stream online in full HERE) and today we get to check out the new promo photos that are included in the album’s liner notes:

Having listened to the album quite a few times since it became available online and after purchasing it myself, I feel that I need to insist that any and all Tori Amos fans immediately rush out and buy this album if you have not yet done so. Pay no mind to the fact that the album is a “holiday album”, each of the songs has been reworked or is an original composition that is distinctly Tori Amos. In all honesty, this is one of THE best albums Tori has released in many years. The orchestration and performance on the disc hearkens back to Tori’s early days of music-making while still feeling fresh and new. I’ve been listening to the album almost non-stop since I got my hands on it, and I hate Xmas music. If for nothing else, the album is a must own considering it features Tori’s dauther Natashya Lórien singing with Tori on the song Holly, Ivy and Rose — the song is just so beautiful! After the jump, check out the rest of the promo photos featured in the liner notes of Midwinter Graces …

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Tori Amos’s new holiday album Midwinter Graces, which we first heard about back in September, will finally be available for sale next Tuesday November 10 but starting today we are able to listen to the album IN FULL right here online:

Tori Amos’ first ever seasonal album, Midwinter Graces, is an album that has been in the making for the past 40 years. Raised in the Baltimore area under the watchful eye of her Methodist minister father, Tori grew up playing holiday carols at Sunday services and Christmas Day celebrations in her father’s church. These were the songs that gave a young Tori her first taste of music, and now, almost 40 years later, Tori gets her own chance to re-imagine classics like “What Child, Nowell” and “Star of Wonder.” Tori will also add her own bittersweet bliss to the season with original tracks like “Pink and Glitter” and “Our New Year.” Amos has teamed up again with longtime collaborators Matt Chamberlain (drums), Jon Evans (bass), and Mac Aladdin (guitar.) Tori has also enlisted the help of a big band and an orchestra, with stunning John Philip Shenale arrangements to create her new seasonal classics.

You may recall that last month we got to listen to snippets from Midwinter Graces but now we can hear all 12 songs in full. After the jump, enjoy your first listen of Tori’s first ever holiday album …

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Last month we learned that the musical goddess Tori Amos would be releasing a holiday album titled Midwinter Graces this Xmas season and not only got to see the official album cover artwork but we also got to see the album tracklisting. Today we get to check out a new promo image from the album and can preview clips of each of the songs on the disc:

Okay … I love me some Tori but the promo photos for this album are sooooo over-the-top (including the album artwork). I understand that this red dress was created by designer Bernard Chandran … even still, I am really looking forward to hearing this album in full. Undented is reporting that the disc will be released in a standard version and a deluxe version which will include two extra songs, Comfort And Joy and Stille Nacht! Heilige Nacht! (Silent Night! Holy Night!), as well as a bonus DVD. Thus far there is no word on what the DVD will contain but, knowing Tori, it’s bound to be amazing. After the jump, hear a short preview of the album and check out two more promo photos from Midwinter Graces — these next two photos are much less dramatic and are deffo worth checking out …

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Tori Amos, goddess extraordinaire, has announced on her official website that she will be releasing a holiday album titled Midwinter Graces in November. At meet + greets with fans during this Summer’s Sinful Attraction Tour, Tori let slip the news that she would be releasing an Xmas or Winter Solstice album this year, so I’ve been expecting this announcement. Here is the full text of Tori’s announcement complete with album tracklist:

After nearly two decades writing and recording some of her generation’s most emotionally powerful music, Tori Amos will release her first seasonal album, Midwinter Graces, on November 10 via Universal Republic. A follow up to Tori’s critically acclaimed studio album, Abnormally Attracted to Sin, Midwinter Graces will find Tori reworking and expanding on classic carols as well as developing some of her very own seasonal tracks. Midwinter Graces is an album that has been in the making for the past 40 years. Raised in the Baltimore area under the watchful eye of her Methodist minister father, Tori grew up playing holiday carols at Sunday services and Christmas Day celebrations in her father’s church. These were the songs that gave a young Tori her first taste of music, and now almost 40 years later Tori gets her own chance to reimagine the classics. For Midwinter Graces, Amos has again teamed up with long time collaborators Matt Chamberlain on drums, Jon Evans on bass, and Mac Aladdin on guitars. Tori has enlisted the help of a Big Band and an Orchestra with stunning John Philip Shenale arrangements to create Tori’s new seasonal classics.

After the jump, check out our first look at the album artwork for Tori Amos’s Midwinter Graces and see the album’s full tracklist …

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