Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
In Times Of Dragons we either fight and stand tall, or we bow to the seemingly inevitable and allow ourselves to be burnt, such is the way that life reveals itself to us, we are either cowards and hide, hoping the piercing eyes skim over us, hoping we are not worthy of its wrath, or we strike a blow with our truth, knowing the creature, the machine, the person behind the fear, will kill us for our courage anyway.
Tori Amos returns after a period of time with new found reflection, of observing her homeland and the wider world descend into a collective madness that has torn apart our ability to see through the fires and the combustible bluster of the sick, the reptiles in skins and designer suits, and those who seek destruction to pave a way of absolute conviction, of praising the dragon rather than seeing it tamed and banished.
The album is a story teller’s dream, a collection of songs that are deeply rooted in the musician’s own ferocity of spirit and her guiding light in offering shelter of explanation to where we are in time, in the midst of chaos, in a period where the legitimate have been sidelined and others have taken over and in control.
It takes bravery to not only point out that we live in days of dangerous significance, but to openly demonstrate through art the threat in its completeness, that requires nerve, for the dragons not only manipulate their own strength, they posses the ability to take you out of the equation with a single word, with smoke and mirrors.
In her courage and beautiful artistry at the piano, Ms. Amos, alongside Mark Hawley on guitar and ukulele, Matt Chamberlin on drums, John Evans on bass, John Philip Shenale on keys, and Natasha Hawley offering subtle vocalisation on various tracks, lances the scales, cuts out the very heart of the lies placed before the public as soundbites, venomous barbs, and fires of outrageous deceits; and as tracks such as St. Teresa, Gasoline Girls, Fanny Faudrey, Strawberry Moon, Stronger Together, and 23 Peaks hold the concept in high regards, and with Tori Amos’ value of candour and truth.
In Times Of Dragons is an album of weight, of a pursuit to deny the fire room to spread and turn all that is good to ash; and once more Tori Amos catching the pulse of the decent with intense sublime pleasure.
Ian D. Hall