Sexuality, sin and politics are at the core of Tori Amos.
It's my life's work," she explained of the running themes while on a recent tour stop in Orlando, Fla. "As a minister's daughter, I was born into this very ancient tradition of Christianity. But as you know, there's a political side to it. It's not just about faith and the people who are genuine Christians and live their life trying to be compassionate.
Living in Washington for so many years, I was able to understand how religion and politics (are intrinsically connected). It's incredibly destructive."
Amos is on tour for her new album, Abnormally Attracted to Sin, an intimate followup to her 2007 romp American Doll Posse, in which she took on different feminine archetypal personae to a boisterous rock soundtrack.
Despite the mischievous title, her latest disc offers thoughtful ruminations on what it means to be a woman in the modern world. It's an ongoing topic of interest for Amos, this time inspired by people she met while touring her last album.
Instead of a commentary on our time," she said, "which American Doll Posse was in many ways, this is an emotional read of a woman's perspective when everything changed -- when the world as we know it changed."
She was referring to the onset of the financial crisis last fall, and "how that affected people. When the rug is pulled out on the future -- kids have come to me in the last year who were supposed to go to college and who now can't afford it. They have to rethink their whole life."
Amos' answer was to look inward, to values she had been fostering for some time.
This whole record is about recognizing how it's important to start with abundance. In such a time of lack, it just made sense that you can only combat destruction by not creating it, by not getting swallowed alive by the negativity.
It's about not being afraid to talk about the heartbreak and changes, but also recognizing that if we're all so obsessed by what we're losing, we're probably going to lose more. I feel abundant, not materially but spiritually. How do you apply that to life?"
Whether explicitly (as on the ballad "Maybe California," in which she persuades a mother not to commit suicide; or "That Guy," which documents an abusive relationship) or more poetically (as on the existential "Flavor," in which she asks, "What does it look like / This orbital ball from the fringes of the Milky Way"), she offers guidance to her fellow females.
So many women talk to me about the division of spirituality and sexuality," she said, "how to integrate them. It doesn't mean they don't have both, but not at the same time. There's a myth in Christianity that Mary Magdalene didn't have spirituality, and that Mother Mary was never allowed to have sex.
Women haven't had a template to hold both. A lot of Hollywood starlets through the '40s and '50s had to be more one way or the other, instead of being taught to carry both. Women tell me that to feel excited or hot and sexy, they turn into a top-shelf porno mag, instead of getting excited about being with their soulmate."
So is Amos trying to provide a template? She certainly seems to be. But she is reticent to say how much of her songwriting comes from personal experience, and how much is her telling the stories of others, interweaving truth and fiction to get to something more profound.
What portion (of my songs) are personal stories, or what the events are that drove me to write them, is private," she said. "Mark (Hawley, her husband and musical collaborator) and I have a deal -- that (information) never leaves us, to get to you. That's why I'm on my 10th album, and not lying in pieces on the pages of a magazine."
Amos doesn't take her longevity as an artist for granted, expressing gratitude for having found support within the music industry, as well as an open-minded fan base that believes in her enough to let her be herself, and to keep taking chances.
There are activist people out there in corporations," she said. "And I think I've been blessed with an incredible group of people willing to come to shows and be open with me experimenting as a musician."
Artistically, she said, the key is to stay true to yourself, and not to get consumed by ego: "If I start getting onstage with backup dancers and acting like Madonna, you have to send me a little note
How crazy are we about the concept of the walk-on role? Very. It's particularly Hollywood. You don't hear of people "walking-on" for a day at an accounting office in Akron, or play a bit role in an architectural firm in Miami. Either you're hired or not. No "one-day" deals. No "come by for an hour" and then go.
