Chamber Pop
Tori Amos Unveils New Album Ocean to Ocean: Stream
Tori Amos has released her sixteenth studio album, Ocean to Ocean, via Decca. Stream it below. The studio effort is the pianist’s first full-length since last 2017’s Native Invaders, and was preceded by singles “Speaking with Trees” and “Spies.” “The goal was to make a sonic potion that would give people hope and make them feel, I don’t know, like magic does exist. For all of us. Even through these crazy times,” Amos said in an interview for Kyle Meredith With… about the new album, which she wrote and recorded in lockdown at her house in Cornwall, in the southwest of England Related Video The art-pop artist also revealed during the chat that album cut “Metal Water Wood” was the first song she penned after the LP’s thematic direction changed drastically around the start of the year. “I thin...
CARM and Sufjan Stevens Collaborate on “Song of Trouble”: Stream
Contemporary classical ensemble yMusic has been dabbling with the indie rock world for over a decade now, working with everyone from Justin Vernon to The Tallest Man on Earth over the course of their career. CJ Camerieri, the group’s co-founder and horn player, is bringing that experience with him into CARM, his debut self-titled album under that solo moniker, due out January 22nd. Case and point: he got Sufjan Stevens to sing on his brand new single “Song of Trouble”. Co-written by both artists, “Song of Trouble” is a beautiful orchestral number that sees CARM wielding his horn in a way that’s typically reserved for guitars. There’s a sense of sadness that guides it as well as a subtle hopefulness. That feeling is drawn out all the more thanks to the lyrics Stevens wrote. “I called to eac...
Tori Amos Unboxes New Christmastide EP: Stream
Deck the halls with boughs of holly, and stream the new holiday project from chamber pop extraordinaire Tori Amos. Her Christmastide EP is officially out today and can be found below via Apple Music or Spotify. Out through Decca Records, Christmastide serves as Amos’ first new solo material since the 2017 full-length Native Invader. It features four original tracks, including lead single “Better Angels”. According to Amos, she hopes the EP can be a jubilant “safe space” from these turbulent times. “With Christmastide it was important to be positive and to try and lift people’s spirits,” she commented in a statement. “It’s a time of year that should be joyful with family and friends but also can sadly be a very lonely place for some.” Editors’ Picks “Many families will ...
Tori Amos Gifts New Holiday Song “Better Angels”: Stream
Everyone could use an extra bit of hope this strange holiday season, and that includes Tori Amos. The chamber pop artist is gearing up to release a new EP, Christmastide, that’s meant to be a joyful “safe space” from these turbulent times. As a first preview, Amos is sharing closing track “Better Angels” today. According to the eight-time Grammy-nominated songwriter, this offering envisions a brighter future while simultaneously recognizing the harshness of our present circumstances. “With ‘Better Angels’ I wanted to acknowledge the year we have all been through and know that there is hope,” remarked Amos. “We can find that hope within ourselves if we continue to focus our collective minds and souls. We are slowly starting to find a clearer path to transform together for the better of all,...
Tori Amos Announces Holiday EP Christmastide
Tori Amos has announced a new holiday-themed EP called Christmastide. Due out next month, the project features four original songs from the beloved chamber-pop artist. The EP marks the first new solo material from Amos since her 2017 full-length, Native Invader, but it’s actually not her first foray into the world of holiday music. Back in 2009, she released an album called Midwinter Graces that included reworked Christmas carols and a few seasonal originals, and way back in 1998 she recorded a beautiful cover of the classic tune “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas”. However, this set of songs is unique in that they will arrive during a particularly lonely Christmas season and at the end of a horrendous year. In a statement, Amos said that Christmastide is supposed ...
Song of the Week: Taylor Swift’s “exile” Reminds Us That We’re Not Alone
Song of the Week breaks down and talks about the song we just can’t get out of our head each week. Find these songs and more on our Spotify New Sounds playlist. It’ll be interesting if a decade or two from now, we’ll look back at “quarantine albums” or “pandemic art” as a thing — like how we classify certain things, including some old music, as “Depression-era.” First, I think we can all agree that we don’t want this tumultuous time to carry on any longer or more destructively than it must. But the isolation and time for contemplation that have accompanied this pandemic have inevitably seeped into music: how it’s created, how it’s shared, how it’s performed, and, yes, even its substance. Might we look back at the growing body of quarantine content in the years to come and acknowledge that ...
