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Album Review | ‘Midwinter Graces’ by Tori Amos
Amos dips her toes into the realms of holiday music bridging her pop world into the classical realm she would tackle next.
Amos was never one that I would have pulled to create a “Christmas” record. Her constant unbinding of religious trauma and confinement that her Christian upbringing planted in her would make you think she would shy away from something so traditional. A couple of well-placed b-sides on prior releases displayed the magic her prowess on the keys can bring to these classics. Few would have thought after the electronically inclined exploration of sin that was aptly titled Abnormally Attracted to Sin that she would set her sights on reinventing traditional Christmas-related pieces through her lens. Tori takes holiday classics dating back centuries, alongside several originals, and releases the core of its spirituality and celebration agnostic of origins.
Amos details her philosophy on how she wanted to breathe life into these songs in her interview with Innerviews:
“On Midwinter Graces, I acknowledge the great motherly energy and the fertility story that goes back to our pagan ancestors. So, I think it’s important to say to you that there’s beautiful, strong feminine energy on this record that honors the birth of the…