A Sense of Doubt blog post #4095 - In Times of Dragons - Tori Amos' New Album - Music Monday for 2605.04
Yes, I am still listening to Tori Amos.
Studio albums
- Little Earthquakes (1992)
- Under the Pink (1994)
- Boys for Pele (1996)
- From the Choirgirl Hotel (1998)
- To Venus and Back (1999)
- Strange Little Girls (2001)
- Scarlet's Walk (2002)
- The Beekeeper (2005)
- American Doll Posse (2007)
- Abnormally Attracted to Sin (2009)
- Midwinter Graces (2009)
- Night of Hunters (2011)
- Gold Dust (2012)
- Unrepentant Geraldines (2014)
- Native Invader (2017)
- Ocean to Ocean (2021)
- The Music of Tori and the Muses (2025)
- In Times of Dragons (2026)
Anyway, I will have to do a corresponding list of male artists and then a mixed just artists list, not separated by gender.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_Times_of_Dragons
Amos has shared on social media:
And two reviews
Topical and Triumphant — Tori Amos’ New Album Packs A Powerful, Political Punch
April 5, 2026
Tori Amos releases her new album on 1st May, and fans have been eagerly waiting to see what the iconic singer/songwriter has to say in 2026. The world is certainly in turmoil, the political landscape one of unrest, and people seem more divided than ever. With this project, the flame-haired pianist has not shied away from exploring the world as she finds it, and asks her listeners to somehow make sense of it with her.
“We are having trauma thrown at us every day,” Tori herself said, and it is with her latest release, In Times of Dragons, that the artist takes her faithful followers on a mission through her songs to examine the brokenness of the world and the damage that the political elite are causing.
In Times of Dragons is certainly an ambitious album, one full of unexpected turns. For a singer who has been releasing albums since the early 90’s, it’s no easy feat to still be producing fresh and dynamic material that sounds every bit as inspired and exciting as early releases. And her new 18-track opus is certain to impress Tori’s existing fanbase and perhaps even pique the interest of new listeners, with the artist delivering her most sprawling and complete work in many years.
Here I take a look at each track…
Shush
The album opens setting the mood for much of what is to come, with a sense of unease, as Tori sings about the oppression of the patriarchy and the political elite, with the oppressed being told to “shush themselves down now.” The song is both socially conscious and self-referential, with Amos singing “I knew a girl who sang Silent All These Years / Where is she?”. If you keep listening you just may find the answer. A strong opener that packs a punch in all the right ways.
In Times Of Dragon
A track with a southern vibe to it, In Times of Dragons talks about the lizard demons who want “the suffering, suffering of you and me.” The chorus changes tack, sounding infinitely brighter, but take the verses back to something altogether darker sounding. With funky bass from long-time collaborator Jon Evans, and a sprinkling of Rhodes keyboard, this is an engaging song that really sets the tone.
Provincetown
This song wastes no time, diving straight into itself. There is something about Provincetown vaguely reminiscent of the new tracks Tori recorded for her Tales Of A Librarian compilation. The track changes between full band ensemble and piano for the chorus and a lengthy harpsichord section further in.
“The witch from Brooklyn says you need your dragon king, only they can save you now, because you’re turning into one of them.”
St Teresa
St Teresa is a mid-tempo track that starts out with some arpeggiated guitar playing and drums. Tori makes full use of her lower register to great effect, and features some of her lowest range to date on record, showing how our heroine has adapted effectively to the changes age has brought to her instrument. The whole vibe of this song is very ambient and ethereal and whilst not an immediate standout, the soundscape manages to draw you in. Repeats of “you are, you are, you are kissed by God,” echo throughout this enchanting number.
Gasoline Girls
Starting out with an upbeat, quirky piano motif which repeats throughout the verses, Gasoline Girls kicks in with the band during the chorus. “Stoned by henchman, of that lizard scum, free speech? Here, there is none,” Tori sings. “Just a little ditty” is one lyric, something she sings towards the end, which best describes the vibe of this track. Despite some of the more serious lyrics, it’s one of the more throwaway on the album.
An Ode To Minnesota
Only 1:34 in length, this is a simple yet touching little moment on the album. It’s one of the few tracks featuring Tori solo on piano and synths and feels more of an interlude of sorts than a fully-fledged song.
Fanny Faudrey
Musically, this is the album’s fun and light-hearted “silly” song. “Fanny feminist, from the 19th century / keep teaching me.” Just the piano and the band, no unnecessary guitars, and with a delightful little laugh from Tori at the end. It’s a whimsical and memorable song, breaking the darkness of the overall tone.
Veins
A moody little number, with Tori and her daughter Tash (who sounds fantastic on this). The verses are piano and band, followed by an interesting pre-chorus section with synths, where they exchange: “Tori: I don’t want it running in your veins, Tash: You don’t want it running in my veins? Tori: No, I don’t want it running in your veins.”
The song seems to be about a mother fiercely wanting to protect her daughter, perhaps from political brainwashing and ends in a sinister way, with Tash singing “it’s already running in my veins.” The strongest track so far.
Strawberry Moon
Tori and presumably Tash can be heard laughing and joking at the beginning of this with some gentle piano improv in the background. The drums kick in “I am confessing, not to a priest, or confession box, or to a sheik, dark thoughts I am confessing.” Tori sings the main bulk of the song, with Tash singing a repeating refrain of the song title in the background. This track seems to be a song about losing oneself, with a similar tempo to Swim To New York State from 2021’s Ocean to Ocean — although the song is nothing like that. Another dreamy, vibey kind of track.
Song of Sorrow
A dark ballad that starts out with elegant strings before Tori’s piano enters with a simple, dark motif. “I invited you in, I invited you in, you said yeah.” The haunting, darker verses are contrasted by a chorus that sounds quite anthemic in a mournful kind of way — certainly one of the more immediate choruses on the record. Seems to be a song about Tori watching Tash grow into a woman. “You’re becoming your own woman, whole again.”
Flood
Just Tori and strings on this moody ballad. “I can’t sugarcoat our future” she sings. It seems to be about a relationship, “falling in love, well it can flood, into everything, you’re everything, my everything” in the chorus. Chorus lyrics sound sentimental, but the song is in no way saccharine and there’s a somewhat unsettling vibe to the track.
Pyrite
A much-needed more upbeat track. Tori and the Rhodes, accompanied by drums and Jon providing some pretty intricate sounding bass work. Perhaps a grower.
Tempest
I liked this one on a first listen. Upbeat tempo with a great piano hook that starts out the song and repeats after each chorus. “Saint Cecilia warning me, I could lose myself so easily”. Something about it reminded me of the more nuanced tracks from 2005’s divisive The Beekeeper, as if Barons Of Surburbia, General Joy and Mary’s of The Sea had a threesome and created this superior offspring.
It builds to a musical climax, with some excellent strings towards the end. One of the more epic moments on the record.
Angelshark
“We who choose love over greed, we are becoming an endangered species.”
Some interesting drum work throughout. Hard to compare with anything she’s done before. The song is about hiding oneself to survive through dark times, like the Angelshark.
Blue Lotus
This is my favourite by far. Tori and the Rhodes accompany a Hey Jupiter Dakota style beat on the verses. “I’m not going back again, to Salem, tied to their stick.” Some fantastic harpsichord work in the chorus “I’ll be burning, yes I’m burning into you, blue lotus.”
There are some great harmonies from Tori on the middle-eight section, which reminded me of how much I miss her complex vocal arrangements at times. The final chorus really lifts off and she replaces the harpsichord with some heavy piano playing with the drummer matching the sense of urgency.
I imagine this being a big fan favourite.
23 Peaks
23 Peaks starts out with a long section (nearly 2 and a half mins) of cinematic, sombre sounding strings. Tori’s voice enters on top, with the distant sound of waves in the background.
No piano, just Tori and strings for the majority of the track, with an organ entering towards the end. It’s quite unlike anything else she’s ever done before. Perhaps her best vocal performance on record in quite some time. There’s a sense of desperation to her vocals that’s really palpable. Certainly her most ambitious album closer in many a year.
Overall Impression
It is always difficult with an artist of Tori’s stature, to avoid falling into familiar tropes that critics like to use with such long-standing musical veterans. “A return to form”, “her best work since…” are often repeated in such reviews. In this instance, however, those sentiments feel very authentic. With no trace of hyperbole, I believe it is fair to say, In Times of Dragons is undoubtedly her most ambitious body of work since perhaps Scarlet’s Walk. I’m not claiming that it’s her best record since then — time will tell on that one, but it certainly stands out as her most unsettling and socially connected work since her much-revered 90’s output. Fans of Tori’s darker sounding From The Choirgirl Hotel and Boys for Pele will likely find lots to treasure within this release.
The songwriting is expansive, the arrangements surprising; the whole project sounds like less a collection of songs strung together with a loose theme and more like a complete work. Vocally, Tori is navigating changes to her voice really well. I believe that fans will be surprised, particularly by Blue Lotus and the closing track 23 Peaks, which showcase some of her best vocal work in quite some time.
Musically, the whole thing sounds quite intense and moody. There are few moments of levity throughout, but the overall vibe is unrelenting from the opening track to the stunning album closer.
In Times of Dragons is rated 4/5.
https://riffmagazine.com/album-reviews/tori-amos-in-times-of-dragons/
Tori Amos has always been ready to embrace a creative story concept. Many of her albums, including Strange Little Girls (2001), Scarlett’s Walk (2002), American Doll Posse (2007) and Night of Hunters (2011), have been expansive affairs with an overarching story. She’s always had an affinity for storytelling and dressing up.
In Times of Dragons
Tori Amos
Universal/Fontana, May 1
7/10
Get the album on Amazon Music.
Photographer Kasia Wozniak and stylist Karen Binns helped Amos assemble the visual elements of her latest, In Times of Dragons, including the striking cover photo with Amos and the shadow of a dragon curling behind her. She’s described the album as a metaphor about the current fight for democracy over tyranny and “dictator-believing lizard demons,’ who are trying to usurp America.
Amos tells this allegory through a narrator who’s married to an evil billionaire. She seems to have crafted this character as a version of herself gone astray, a socialite married to some kind of Bezos/Musk/Thiele amalgam, as a way of navigating and commenting on current events without making a “protest album.” For those not steeped in Tori Amos’ lore, these descriptions might be weird or off-putting, but for those who’ve followed her work for years, this strangeness is not all that surprising.
She’s told a lot of interesting stories over the years, but the real question is: is the music good? The answer, thankfully, is a resounding yes.
While the album is on the long side, and for a serious subject (the death of democracy) it can get a bit silly, but for those who commit to listening to the story as hard as Amos does to telling it, there’s much to enjoy.
Amos, who was a child prodigy on piano, brings her instantly recognizable style and flair to the keys, often an electric Rhodes piano, on these songs. She got her excellent backing band back together for this album, including drummer Matt Chamberlain (Pearl Jam, Soundgarden and many others) and bassist Jon Evans.
Opener “Shush” begins the album with a mounting sense of dread and menace.
“Southern girls know what it means/ When the patriarchy menacingly says/ ‘You shush yourself down now,’” Amos sings. Those who’ve been in an abusive relationship will be able to relate to the sense of having to make yourself smaller and quieter. The song sets the tone for the narrator’s need to escape.
Amos’ narrator flees and goes on a roadtrip south. She finds shelter with a lesbian biker gang in “Gasoline Girls,” which is another standout track. It and the other singles make up the strongest material on the record.
You can also hear it as a kind of tribute to the queer community that’s supported of Amos in real life. The jaunty piano riff that begins the song and repeats throughout is very catchy, recalling some of her early work like “Cornflake Girl” or “Daisy Dead Petals.” The electric guitar parts played by Mark Hawley – Amos’ husband and recording engineer – on the chorus are moody and evocative.
Amos has been open and honest about her voice having changed, and she sings in a lower register now. While this will affect her arrangements in her live show (she’s bringing backing vocalists with her on tour this summer), her voice still sounds great. Amos’ daughter, Natashya Hawley, joins her toward the end of the album to sing on “Stronger Together,” and their voices intertwining together are beautiful and poignant as they sing, “I understand it was tough/ Now we’re safe together/ Stronger together.”
Amos’ concept albums have been inconsistent, with some stronger than others, but she executes on In Times of Dragons. The songs are solid, and the story is weird but compelling. In her dystopian fantasia, real life is amplified and transmogrified, creating an opportunity for catharsis through listening.
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- Days ago: MOM = 3959 days ago & DAD = 615 days ago
- New note - On 1807.06, I ceased daily transmission of my Hey Mom feature after three years of daily conversations. I post Hey Mom blog entries on special occasions. I post the days since ("Days Ago") count on my blog each day, and now I have a second count for Days since my Dad died on August 28, 2024. I am now in the same time zone as Google! So, when I post at 10:10 a.m. PDT to coincide with the time of Mom's death, I am now actually posting late, so it's really 1:10 p.m. EDT. But I will continue to use the time stamp of 10:10 a.m. to remember the time of her death and sometimes 13:40 EDT for the time of Dad's death. The blog entry numbering in the title has changed to reflect total Sense of Doubt posts since I began the blog on 0705.04, which include Hey Mom posts, Daily Bowie posts, and Sense of Doubt posts. Hey Mom posts will still be numbered sequentially. New Hey Mom posts will use the same format as all the other Hey Mom posts; all other posts will feature this format seen here.
