Description
Tori Amos – Ocean To Ocean – Compact Disc
Tori Amos’ Ocean to Ocean is her 16th studio album, released on October 29, 2021 through Decca Records. It’s a full-length studio project ( 11 tracks, 47:38 ) written during the COVID-era lockdown while Amos was living in Cornwall, England, and the album’s themes and lyrics draw directly from that period (grief, isolation, uncertainty, and the need for connection).
From a production and personnel standpoint, Ocean to Ocean is notable because it reunites Amos with her long-running core backing band for the first time on a studio album since Midwinter Graces (2009): Matt Chamberlain on drums and Jon Evans on bass, with Mac Aladdin on guitar. Amos also produced the album herself, continuing her long-established role as both primary artist and studio architect. The recording process was geographically spread out, with work taking place at Martian Engineering Studios (Cornwall, UK) and studios in Los Angeles and Orleans, Massachusetts, reflecting the remote-collaboration constraints of the time.
Musically, the album sits in the alternative rock / pop rock / chamber pop area of her catalog, with piano remaining central but supported by more band-forward arrangements than some of her earlier 2010s releases. The tracklist mixes concise, hook-driven songs with longer structures, including “Spies” (one of the album’s lengthier pieces at around six minutes). For customers who like details, the standard album track sequence is: “Addition of Light Divided,” “Speaking with Trees,” “Devil’s Bane,” “Swim to New York State,” “Spies,” “Ocean to Ocean,” “Flowers Burn to Gold,” “Metal Water Wood,” “29 Years,” “How Glass Is Made,” and “Birthday Baby.”
In terms of release rollout, “Speaking with Trees” and “Spies” were issued as advance singles ahead of the album. Overall, Ocean to Ocean is best understood as a late-career Tori Amos album that’s tightly tied to its writing circumstances (lockdown-era Cornwall) while also emphasizing ensemble playing and the familiar sound of her established band lineup.
Brand new, never played and still in the factory plastic
Track Listing
Addition Of Light Divided
Speaking With Trees
Devil’s Bane
Swim To New York State
Spies
Ocean To Ocean
Flowers Burn To Gold
Metal Water Wood
29 Years
How Glass Is Made
Birthday Baby
