MusicRadar

Tori Amos loves to stun and surprise, and with her newest album, Midwinter Graces, she's thrown another left curve at fans who delight in her idiosyncratic musical stylings.

Although the record is most certainly a holiday offering, Amos, the daughter of a Methodist minister, perfers to call it a 'seasonal' or 'solstice' album. "As you know, I don't like to dwell on the familiar," she says. "That just doesn't interest me - and I don't think my audience wants me to give them what they can get elsewhere."

Still, the idea of a holiday record intgrigued Amos, and once she threw herself into the project (recording it in stages while on tour over the summer), she did so with characteristic aplomb, eschewing played-out standards such as White Christmas but putting her own spin on lesser-known traditional numbers like What Child, Nowell and Star Of Wonder. The results make for an enchanting, bewitching and altogether intoxicating listen.

Midwinter Graces isn't merely a covers album, however; Amos has written five originals, including the lush love ballad A Silent Night With You, the torchy Pink And Glitter (which finds the artist venturing assuredly into big band territory) and Winter's Carol, the latter song offering listeners a preview of her upcoming musical, The Light Princess.

There's not a saccharine nor shocking moment to be found, and Amos admits this might be one of the record's most starting aspects. "I'm known for pushing people's buttons with my music, and here I'm holding out a nice pillow for them to rest their heads on.

"But that's OK," she adds. "Things are hard these days. People need a little comfort, some hope. If I can do that in even some small way, how can I feel I'm not doing my part as an artist?"

MusicRadar caught up with Tori Amos recently to talk about her new album, her views on holiday songs and her beloved Bosendorfer piano. Somewhat humorously, the subject of her mother kept weaving its way into the conversation.

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What led you to record Midwinter Graces? I understand there were suggestions from both your father and the head of your label, Doug Morris.

"Yes, which is kind of fascinating for me because my father is a Methodist minister and Doug Morris is a liberal Jewish guy. My dad has been after me to do a Christmas record since I was two years old.

"After I did South By Southwest [in March of this year], Doug said to me, 'Look, I've always wanted to know what you would do [on an album like this], because a lot of us are excluded. In the carols, particularly in stanzas three, four and five, usually the Christology kicks in and you're already involved in the Crucifixion before you finish the song.' He said, 'I just want to celebrate the rebirth of light. Why can't some of these carols be more inclusive instead of exclusive if you don't buy the whole thing hook, line and sinker?'"

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