Tori Amos: The Beekeeper

Follow-up to Tori Amos' 2002 "Scarlet's Walk, the fiery earth-sprite has fashioned another high-minded concept album, tying her 19 songs into a garden motif that's part a retelling of Alice In Wonderland. The Beekeeper chronicles her rather autobiographical protagonist's journey through what seems to be an overgrown labyrinth of the subconscious as she experiences a series of life-altering events and emotions. In addition, living in Cornwall for the past decade has certainly had an effect on Amos, she even takes inspiration from Daphne Du Maurier's classic novel Jamaica Inn. On a song like "Hoochie Woman," she sounds like she's channeling Chrissie Hynde--a welcome change from some of the preciousness of her earlier work. Tori also surprises with the steely, eloquent resolve on a song like "Goodbye Pisces" one of the better break-up songs in recent memory. The Beekeeper returns the quirky singer to the same whimsical terrain of 1992's Little Earthquakes, but with much stronger storylines, and a much more assured and nuanced voice. Her best yet.