Tori Amos
Midwinter Graces

The release of a Christmas album by a singer-songwriter like Tori Amos might be perceived as an unforgivable act of negligence towards the music market. However, if we consider Amos's artistic journey from The Beekeeper onward, we realize how this album stands as a true gem among her recent years' productions.

It is true that Tori Amos presents the public with a Christmas album, yet it would be more accurate to call it a winter album. Upon listening, we find an atmosphere that goes far beyond the sugary Christmas commercials by Coca Cola, a cold and crystalline atmosphere reminiscent of the pagan suggestions of Yule, seasoned with the intimacy typical of this artist, who has never failed to place herself and her inner world at the center of her songs.

If we approach the songs, we notice how the material is composite and varied. Tori Amos has selected 7 traditional songs, adding 5 unreleased tracks. The 7 covers, drawn from the Anglo-American tradition, however, have been considerably reworked in terms of arrangements and melodies, so much so that they lose the typical triteness of this type of songs. Right from the first track, "What Child, Nowell", we can notice the much-welcomed return of the piano as a main instrument, which Amos had somewhat set aside lately in favor of arrangements mostly entrusted to electric guitars and keyboards. We also notice the careful use of orchestral instruments, especially violins, but also brass and wind instruments as in the track "Candle: Coventry Carol", not forgetting the return of the spinet, forgotten since the times of Boys for Pele. 

We can then note airier and livelier tracks, such as "Star of Wonder", a song supported by excellent strings, and "Holly, Ivy, and Rose", even rhythmic ones like "Harps of Gold". "Jeanette, Isabella" instead seems to evoke the golden period of childhood, with its crystalline piano, as well as the best moments of The Beekeeper, while "Emmanuel" stands out for the intimate and devout atmosphere it expresses. 

Moving on to the unreleased tracks, we can note how they blend perfectly with the traditional songs, united by the same melodic and arrangement choices. Particularly curious is the launch single, "A Silent Night with You", a love song by Amos in the old way, almost all piano and voice, that quotes here and there the verses of the most famous Christmas songs. "Snow Angel" is instead a more melodically styled song, with a fluid and dreamy progression, while "Pink and Glitter" stands out for its novel swing flavor, a genre almost never touched by Amos, and for the text with adolescent nuances. The album finally concludes with the last 2 unreleased tracks, probably the best pieces. "Winter's Carol", for the overwhelming use of the piano, recalls the splendors of Under the Pink, and enchants thanks to the use of the voice, sparkling and fairy-like as it hasn't been for a long time. A song with a strongly pagan flavor, that smells of snowy woods and moonlights and leads to the final track, "Our New Year", a melancholic toast to the new year and a tribute to Amos's brother, who passed away a few years ago and to whom she had already dedicated a song, "Toast".

I would like to spend a few words also regarding the packaging. Apart from the cover that overdoes with computer graphics, the photographs illustrating the booklet capture the pagan nuances I have already mentioned, showing us a Tori Amos/Snow Queen that seems to step directly out of fairy tales, while the lyrics are divided into four sections, each dedicated to a natural element. 

In conclusion, I renew my surprise for an album of truly exquisite quality, which significantly uplifts Amos's artistic path of the recent years. An album that, however, risks being snubbed as a Christmas album, even though Tori has approached this day with all the originality she was capable of, showing her fans how the first, glorious years of her career have not been forgotten at all.