Tori Amos
Unrepentant Geraldines

Let's start by saying that we are far from the "girl with a piano" of her beginnings and instead, we are facing a woman in her fifties who has realized that concept albums are not always as we had imagined them and that putting all the songs written in the period into one album, as much as it is proof of prolificacy, does not always serve the whole.

There have been excellent works, such as "Boys for Pele", "From the Choirgirl Hotel" or "Scarlet’s Walk", and even in "American Doll Posse" and "Abnormally Attracted to Sin" there were a few particularly catchy songs like "Teenage Hustling", "Big Wheel", "Welcome to England" or "Fast Horse".

Then came one of the biggest mistakes one can make in life: "Midwinter Graces", the Christmas album that, with a handful of new songs and a series of tunes to listen under the tree, aimed to pave the way for the most ambitious concept in history.

Naturally "Night of Hunters" which can be said to start with the noblest intents of making peace with classical music so despised in an earlier period and then, it comes to reveal what it is, a failure.

However, not tired of the orchestral experience, she recorded "Gold Dust", a collection of hits (not even picked with much discernment in my opinion) for Deutsche Grammophon, still in search of the right inspiration for a new album of original songs.

Fortunately, this writing abstinence has benefited this fourteenth album, "Unrepentant Geraldines", which marks an evolution (or a positive regression if we can call it that) towards a sound that is neither too contrived and pop nor too contorted and intimate, inspired by impressionist painters and figurative art in general.

A tracklist of fourteen decent tracks -with some noticeable peaks, tempered by inspired yet somewhat homogeneous songs- where we can find some reminiscences of the alternative past mixed with the more recent influences of chamber music, all in a new calm and clean sounding conception.

The single "Trouble's Lament" definitely deserves recognition, as we can hear Amos' voice at least partially "healed" from that affected tone that has plagued her since the negligible "The Beekeeper", accompanied not only by the piano but also by pleasant acoustic guitars. Another track that stands out for its fresh and carefree sound is "16 Shades of Blue", while a bit further down the tracklist we find a ballad that strongly echoes "Night of Hunters", "Selkie". Definitely captivating, without venturing into true alternative rock, is the title track "Unrepentant Geraldines", where the choruses are transporting. Towards the end, there is "Rose Dover", which, albeit faintly, hints at the atmospheres of "From the Choirgirl Hotel"; we also notice with relief that the voice of Amos' daughter, who sings only on one track in this album, has also improved and finally conveys something.

In conclusion, a good album that does not surprise but reassures, and proves that after a series of wrong and marketing-driven choices, solutions can also be found that are not catastrophically bad. Aware that Amos, even with all the good will in the world, will never be like she was in "Under the Pink" or "Boys for Pele", we accept her as she is now, finally at her best after a few decidedly dark years.