Tori Amos

American Doll Posse

Tori Amos' ninth studio album was released May 1, 2007 on Epic Records. The album was written and produced by Tori at her home studio, Martian Engineering, in Cornwall, England. American Doll Posse features Tori as five distinct characters- Isabel, Clyde, Santa, Tori and Pip - who combine to make a complete woman. They each have their own personalities and even their own weblogs. After centuries of being dismembered, literally and figuratively, by the ruling patriarchy the feminine essence has reassembled to take back the power. Click the links to check out their blogs.

The Posse

Isabel [HisTORIcal], a photographer, is a reflection of Artemis and is the most outwardly political of the bunch. She opens the album with "Yo George," a shout-out to our commander in chief, questioning what horribly dark road he and his crooked cronies have led us down, and closes the CD with the anti-war anthem, "Dark Side of the Sun."

Clyde [CliTORIdes], who draws from Persephone. She wears her emotional wounds on her sleeve, but remains idealistic. "She is looking at the effects of not being a whole person. She is trying to figure out what she believes in and she is dealing with having been disappointed in her life," Amos says. Clyde is a little girl lost on the string-laden, gorgeous "Girl Disappearing" and on the heartfelt ballad "Roosterspur Bridge."

Pip [ExpiraTORIal], who represents Athena swaggers her way through the driving "Teenage Hustling" and duets with Santa on the rollicking "Body and Soul." "Pip, being the warrior that she is, does confront issues and sometimes it's explosive, but I really love her energy and her casual approach to rubber."

Santa [SanaTORIum] relates to Aphrodite and is the sensualist of the group. Through songs like the shimmery pop of "Secret Spell" or the wonderfully wicked "You Can Bring Your Dog" or the delightfully retro "Programmable Soda," "Santa is somebody who's a girl's girl," Amos says. "She understands her fellow sisters and she believes that there is enough love and passion out there for everyone. But she won't accept that there is something perverted about being very sensual and she won't drink shame with her sensuality."

Tori [TerraTORIes], who, surprisingly, was one of the hardest characters for Amos to get her head around. "She was Demeter and Dionysus, so she was really holding and channeling the male, as well as Demeter, who was the mother, the creator of this," Amos says. She is front and center as the M-I-L-F on "Big Wheel" and on the dreamy, Lennon-esque married with the Mick Ronson guitar inspired "Digital Ghost."

[ CD ] [ DVD ]

American Doll Posse Limited Edition version Epic (UK): April 30, 2007 Epic (US): May 1, 2007 1. Yo George 1.27 isabel 2. Big Wheel 3.18 tori 3. Bouncing Off Clouds 4.08 clyde 4. Teenage Hustling 3.59 pip 5. Digital Ghost 3.51 tori 6. You Can Bring Your Dog 4.03 santa 7. Mr. Bad Man 3.19 isabel 8. Fat Slut 0.40 pip 9. Girl Disappearing 4.00 clyde 10. Secret Spell 4.03 santa 11. Devils and Gods 0.52 isabel 12. Body and Soul 3.56 pip + santa 13. Father's Son 4.00 tori 14. Programmable Soda 1.25 santa 15. Code Red 5.26 tori 16. Roosterspur Bridge 4.00 clyde 17. Beauty of Speed 4.08 clyde 18. Almost Rosey 5.22 isabel 19. Velvet Revolution 1.19 pip 20. Dark Side of the Sun 4.18 isabel 21. Posse Bonus 1.50 tori 22. Smokey Joe 4.16 pip 23. Dragon 5.05 santa

Matt Chamberlain posted to his personal website (mattchamberlain.com) that he finished tracking drums for the new Tori Amos album at the end of June. He also posted 2 photos from the 3-week session.

Here's what Matt had to say about working on the new album
(from mattchamberlain.com):

Hello---just finished tracking the new Tori Amos record out in Cornwall England. It was a really fun and intense 3 weeks of non-stop playing, eating, playing, sleeping and playing. All I can say it that it rocks! I was really excited to put my new Ludwig drums to the test and they definitely sounded really focused, subsonic, full with a nice woody tone. I tracked a few songs with some 60's era ludwigs, some random Slingerland Radio Kings and the old trusty roundbage Gretsch kit from the 40's really helped on a few tracks. I also really got into using Ableton Live software quite a bit which I think it probably one of the most innovative and intuitive things out there for making long-form audio/electronic loops and phrases.

Tori quotes about the new album:

How is the next album coming?

"It’s really, really, really challenging, and it’s pushing everybody, and that’s good. It takes many months to get it where I’m satisfied. And we’ll leave it at that. It’ll be out next year."

Can you give us a hint about how it sounds?

"Nope, you’ll just have to wait."

In general, how do you approach beginning work on a new album?

"You have to know what your theme is for each project and what it is that you’re whispering into people’s spines. I believe your spine responds to music in a way that it might not respond to visuals. That sound can reach inside you in a very primal way. I like to create these sonic resorts that people can walk into and never leave their chair. Then they can take it back into their own physical structure. Music is a mirror that lets the listener say, 'I can be in the stillness in this two-bar phrase, so I can be in the stillness in my life.' And that might not seem like a lot, but this is how you expand the soul."
[Performing Songwriter - November 2006]

"It's a real challenge, allowing myself to not have any kind of subject limits [this time] because I was trying to protect my child," Tori said of her new album. "But that's not the only reason I've written what I've written and done what I've done the last five years. Now that I've addressed things coming from the mother, the minister's daughter and a sexual creature, it's time to do something else energetically. I'm not quite sure how to put it in words yet and I think it's better to let the music speak for itself."
[AOL Music News Blog - June 6, 2006]

How is the role of mother affecting the work now, versus when your daughter was first born?

"I didn't want her looking and hearing me and thinking, 'Oh my God, that's a scary lady!' There are enough scary rock & roll mothers in the world. I'm able to explain now that the woman who comes and reads bedtime stories and hangs out with her is different than the woman who walks behind that piano. I think this is the first time she's able to differentiate that. Now that there's that buffer, there are things in the world it's time to confront. There is an energy that you carry when you're nurturing another life where you're protecting first -- and once you know that cub is out of the way of the hunter's gun, you can be a little more daring."
[Rollingstone.com - March 30, 2006]