Music Review/Album: 12 May 2009
Ed Power

Abnormally attracted to sin

Further mystical adventures from grunge-era Kate Bush

Tori Amos’ last album, American Doll Posse, was the snappiest and sexiest of her career – so it’s no great surprise that, on Abnormally Attracted To Sin, she’s in the throes of a comedown. Putting her feistiness on a leash, the record finds 45-year-old Amos sinking comfortably back into her whimsical princess persona, hemmed in by woozy prog arrangements and piano-melodies that judder and groan, like giant fluorescent icebergs.

Still, moments of brightness gleam amidst the sub-Kate Bush murk. There’s a whipsmart lilt to ‘500 Miles’, one of the most immediate songs she’s written since ‘Cornflake Girl’, the iridescent shoulder-shrug of ‘Police Me’ recalls the mildly saucy Tori who cropped up on Little Earthquakes. The record also contains several of her finest ever ballads, in particular the glimmering ‘Ophelia’ and the rootsy slow jam ‘Lady In Blue’. Abnormally Attracted is often heavy going but within this 18 track sprawl, there’s a fantastic 10-song album waiting to break free. Fans will find the perseverance worthwhile – Tori agnostics, however, may be reluctant to tarry as long.