floatingcity's Full Review: From the Choirgirl Hotel by Tori Amos
Arguably the biggest surprise in Tori Amos’ catalogue, “From The Choirgirl Hotel” shows her taking a break from her long-standing ‘girl and a piano’ set-up and re-categorises her as an individual within a band. That’s not to say that Tori has slackened or diminished her input; but rather that the influence of other musicians has enabled her to craft denser, more fleshed out songs that rely as much on keyboard, guitar and drums as they do on piano. In fact, this is easily the most commercial album she’s recorded (excluding “Y Kant Tori Read”), and many of the songs here could find comfortable homes on rock radio or in nightclubs. However, that’s not to say the music has dumbed down – these new compositions still have all of the hallmarks of Tori songs (lyrical opacity and a reliance on extended metaphors; unconventional structures and chord changes), but the fuller soundscapes mean that if her lyrics prove irritating (“Black-dove, black-dove/You’re not a helicopter/You’re not a cop-out either”), you can focus on the other instruments and impressive textures instead.
Now, I feel a slight bit of hypocrisy coming on. I have criticised Tori’s previous two albums (“Under The Pink” and “Boys For Pele”) for not paying enough attention to melody or hooks, but this album is not that different in those aspects. You’re still not particularly likely to remember these songs after your first couple of listens, but the crucial difference is that parts of these tracks are so musically exhilarating, you simply have to go back to check them out again. And let’s face it: if you’re going to listen to a song that doesn’t have a particular hook, far better it be a frenetic adrenaline rush you can shake it to rather than an “Under The Pink”-style samey piano ballad with no entertainment value whatsoever.
First single and opening track “Spark” is a perfect introduction to the album’s new sound and stands as one of Tori’s top achievements. Lavishly produced with dense, thick textures, it possesses a very minor gothic sensibility with an ominous electric guitar riff leading the way. Tori sings in a much lower pitch than usual with what I think might be a bit of amp distortion; her tone is scarily icy in places, particularly when she references her miscarriages prior to the creation of this record: “She’s convinced she could hold back a glacier/But she couldn’t keep baby alive”. The piano is introduced during the chorus with a gorgeous running riff, and the whole song just keeps building and building until it explodes in a phenomenal piano and guitar breakdown. The tension released, the track returns to its sinister beginnings, the guitar riff sounding as Tori asks “Do you know where my spark is?” This song is everything you can enjoy about Amos’ music – complex, creative, memorable and strongly emotional. Amazing!
After that knockout opening, “Cruel” doesn’t let the side down, incorporating the same detached vocals and booming, swirling production, but this time with a sexy marimba riff and some isolated guitar and cello phrases that combine to form a dark, thumping and oppressive atmosphere. There’s a little bit of a trip-hop vibe, Tori confessing “I can be cruel, I don’t know why”. “Black-Dove (January)” follows, returning the piano to the forefront with a slightly muted, incredibly fluid sound that gives me the mental image of water running over rocks. Although I quoted from this song when I highlighted the occasionally annoying lyrics on the album, there’s actually a very uneasy child-abuse story present here, although I have no idea if that’s what Tori intended. Needless to say, if the lyrics are spooky, the music is a nice distraction, echoing “The Waitress” in the way the refrain explodes from the calm verses: “On the other side of the galaxy!” It’s very bombastic and stadium-filler styled, but still really good.
Let’s take a brief trip into club-land for a few songs. First things first, and that’s that the likes of “Raspberry Swirl” “iieee” and “She’s Your Cocaine” are musically fairly basic club material – although they’re still quite sophisticated compared to most songs you’d hear on a night out. “Raspberry Swirl” is a kaleidoscopic, headrush dance song based on a couple of simple pentatonic piano and guitar riffs backed with a thudding beat and all kinds of cool sound effects, while “She’s Your Cocaine” sounds like the product of a old-school rock bar-band throwing caution to the wind and just jamming for four minutes. They’re both exhilarating and fun; somewhat amusingly, both end with Tori moaning and gasping in orgasmic fashion – did someone set her piano bench to vibrate or something? “iieee” has nice heavy drums coupled with some Mellotron strings; they sound pretty synthetic, but the song is memorable and tribal with its sung ‘iieee’ chant and more serious lyrics: “I know we’re dying, and there’s no sign of a parachute/We scream in cathedrals, ‘why can’t it be beautiful’/Why does there gotta be a sacrifice?” Elsewhere, “Hotel” rounds off the more dance friendly tracks with some fascinating alternation between an electronic wall of sound, rock guitars and a vocally impressive chorus where Tori gradually soars up the octaves asking her lover to “Give me moooooooooore!” The song has several different sections with varying transitions and time signatures, yet still hangs together pretty well. Another impressive achievement.
Two other songs project an after-hours, smoky vibe; both “Liquid Diamonds” and “Pandora’s Aquarium” have a very jazzy feel. The former has a very slow, echoing beat pattern coupled with a relaxed shuffling piano line and a gently pervasive, hypnotic vocal melody as Tori scales softly up and down her range; while “Pandora” closes the disc with a pleasant-yet-unspectacular barroom groove. Some of Tori’s singing here is a tad grating (there’s some pointless stretching out and awkward transitions on pronouncing the title), but it’s nice enough despite being the weakest song.
Tori wouldn’t be Tori without piano ballads, and “Jackie’s Strength” and “Northern Lad” fit the bill. Both are surprisingly easy to understand: “Jackie’s Strength” is a reminiscence of the Kennedy assassination and childhood/teenage years as the protagonist awaits her wedding day, backed up with a very clean, fresh piano and guitar line and some lovely orchestration; “Northern Lad” is a straightforward break-up song with a touch of dark wit: “Girls you’ve got to know/When it’s time to turn the page/When you’re only wet because of the rain”.
The album’s emotional centrepiece is arguably “Playboy Mommy”; while “Spark” and a number of other songs were inspired by Amos’ miscarriages, this track is the full summation of it. It’s an appropriately produced, guitar led song with a few country-styled pedal steel back-ups and some emotional, searching lyrics delivered in a heartfelt but never histrionic way: “Then the baby came before I found, the magic how to keep her happy/I never was the fantasy, of what you want, wanted me to be”, and most painfully, “I’ll say it loud here by your grave/Those angels can’t ever take my place/So don’t judge me so harsh little girl/You’ve got a playboy mommy/Come home”. It’s quietly, incredibly affecting, yet done so tastefully you might not even notice.
With every room of the “Choirgirl Hotel” host to a different, intriguing and complicated song, it’s certainly worth taking a musical stay here. It may not be as definitive or as earth-shattering as “Little Earthquakes”, but this release showcases a newer side of Tori while providing a polite reminder that categorisations aren’t always warranted. Pick it up!
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