Tori Amos
In Times of Dragons
Universal/Fontana
I wasn’t prepared for how In Times of Dragons would affect me. Introducing the record with ominous piano and lyrics salted with emotion and hard truths, “Shush” throws the gauntlet down immediately with imagery, allegory, and a cast of characters about to unfold. This one sent shivers of familiarity and mystery. Naturally, there is the nostalgia for the first Tori Amos albums I owned in the ’90s. The songs committed to memory and the sheer power of her lyrics all come back as a cryptic hand on the shoulder when the song concludes with a phrase that longtime fans will be unable to shake.
I knew a girl who wrote / “Silent All These Years” / Where is she?
With her eighteenth studio album, Amos blends personal storytelling, myth, and political allegory in her signature art-pop theatrical style. Ten distinct characters are introduced throughout the record, which is best heard from start to finish before choosing favorites to repeat. The songs are stories within a story. The first single, “Stronger Together,” features backing vocals from her daughter, Tash, and shines a light on feminine power in these precarious times, the vow to combine forces and support one another regardless of obstacles.
“Gasoline Girls” is a celebratory anthem of the heroine on the run, escaping a Demon Lizard of a husband, and finding strength in numbers once again as her sisters keep watch so others can sleep and refuel.
In a last minute addition to the record, “Ode to Minnesota” seems at first out of place in the ongoing mythical story, and yet it is a perfectly warranted interlude and poignant commentary on events unfolding. At under two minutes in length, it speaks volumes beyond its brief presence. This one deserves a place alongside Springsteen’s “Streets of Minneapolis.” As a second interlude and tribute to nineteenth-century feminists, we get a lighthearted tempo and respite from the intensity in “Fanny Foudrey.” I loved the studio mic left open on this one, as well as on “Strawberry Moon,” a gorgeous and hopeful piece where we get to hear Tash’s backing vocals again, as well as the mother-daughter playfulness in recording.
Throughout In Times of Dragons, the politically charged narrative of the fight for democracy over tyranny is delivered with grace, emotion, atmospheric layers and myth-meets-realism that few can master. As I listened to the conclusion on the last track, “Peaks,” I felt some elements reminiscent of Peter Gabriel’s 1992 release Us. Alongside Little Earthquakes in that same year, we were assured that personal and confessional songwriting is timeless. Its message will always triumph.
This album is a message for daughters, mothers, women who are both, or perhaps by choice, neither. It is a message for men who see a shift happening and are unsure where they fit in. It is for all of us. Just as it was with Little Earthquakes in 1992, Tori Amos’s voice is exactly what we need in these times. She cannot be silenced.
