IT takes a certain arrogance to elevate the harpsichord to lead instrument, but when your name is Tori Amos the high-handedness is forgivable.
Amos' Boys For Pele is her first effort as producer . . . and it won't be her last.
More sparse than her previous efforts - Little Earthquakes and Under The Pink - much of it was captured in a church in County Wicklow, Ireland, with the vocalist holed up in a purpose-built acoustic box.
A metaphor? Maybe, but the effect is appropriately stark given the music-as-therapy nature of her lyrics.
Her musicality has never been in question - classically trained, she could play by the age of two and was composing at four - but over-zealous production sometimes worked against her.
Not here. With total artistic control, Amos' talents are unleashed.
The 18 stripped-down tracks take the torch song through uncharted territory as Amos untethers herself from traditional song-writing techniques.
