When Tori Amos fans purchase tickets to one of her concerts they probably expect to see, well, Tori Amos.
And while the sleek singer songwriter who struts onto the stage may look like Tori Amos, it will in fact be one of five completely different people.
‘Depending on the night, you are going to get a different woman,’ she said.
‘And I know you can’t please everybody, but the way I see it is that if you are at that show, you were supposed to be there for a reason.’
Sound confusing? You bet. But as the singer songwriter explained to OUTinPerth’s partner publication Sydney Star Observer, the five distinct characters unexpectedly appeared when she wrote her ninth studio album American Doll Posse.
It was inevitable really. After centuries of being deconstructed by the ruling patriarchy, it was only a matter of time before the girls reassembled to reclaim the power.
Tori found the girls on her metaphysical travels to the Greek pantheon, a time when the feminine was considered sacred.
She returned to 2007 with Isabel (hisTORIcal) – a photographer with a political bent; Clyde (CliTORIdes) – the little girl lost; and Pip (ExpiraTORIal) – a rubber clad warrior.
Santa (SanaTORIum) the sensual ‘girl’s girl’ appeared shortly after, followed by Tori (TerraTORIes) the male-channelling mother.
Sure, it may sound a little waffly. But Tori said she is simply trying to tell other women that a version of the compartmentalised feminine is within them, however repressed.
‘There are images that we as women step into and maybe get stuck in and they may not be aware of it,’ she said.
‘A lot of women are now beginning to respond by saying, “hang on a minute, I’m not the girl my family wants me to be or the girl my friends think I am.’
Everything going to plan, Tori’s new album will liberate the masses from the shackles of the patriarchal world.
‘There are so many people who are against anything that is not a male, heterosexual power,’ she said.
‘Until those of us who choose to pull our heads out of the sand understand that this force means business, then in 20, 30 or 40 years from now we will look back at this time and say, “my god where were we?’
‘This is life and death, the lives that you and I and our friends have, the freedom that we have to live our lives without somebody telling us what should go on in our bedrooms or what our morals should be.’
It must be relatively easy however to wage war against the heterosexual paradigm when your five new personalities are all stunning looking females.
But Tori ‘the complete woman’, begged to differ.
‘That is my body, I didn’t get a boob job, I just worked my arse off,’ she said.
‘And I am sorry, but at 44 I am fucking hot and I am proud of it.’
Info: To meet Tori, Pip, Isabel, Clyde and Santa go to www.toriamos.com.
This article was written by Cara Davis and appears courtesy of Sydney Star Observer
