Tori A. in de Gloria

Caught a Lite Sneeze is - very appropriate voor the time of year - Tori Amos' new single. It's on of the 18 brand new songs on Boys for Pele, her third album, if we don't count the false hard rock start Y Kant Tori Read? (Atlantic, '88). And, as everyone knows, third albums are often decisive for the rest of a carreer in the POP industry. But Tori is no average singer, hell no!

The inspiration for her stylish and passionate songs comes from literature (Arthur Rimbaud, Loyd Byron, Pablo Neruda) and her personal experiences and inner life. On Little Earthquakes, which is her debut album from '91 and with which she showed her true creative self, she was oppressively honest. Tori Amos isn't afraid of therapeutic lyrics about guilt feelings and sex. As far as that goes, her work links up with that of contemporaries like PJ Harvey, Liz Phair and Alanis Morissette. Musically, she's more like Joni Mitchell and Kate Bush, although Boys for Pele sounds a lot more sober and also somewhat less light-headed.

As usual, Amos accompanies herself on the Bösendorfer and she also plays the harmonium organ and harpischord every now and then. Sometimes, that's it, like on Horses or Agent Orange, an intermezzo. Sometimes she's accompanied by some strings, a bass or single trumpet, like in the sweet 'Muhammad my Friend'. And occasionally, there's a rockband to help her through absolute top songs like Little Amsterdam, Talula and In the Springtime of his Voodoo. But on songs on which she feels hurt, like Hey Jupiter or the heartbreaking 'Doughnut Song', Tori Amos is at her best.

It's really something that seems to go on between those funny little ears of hers. But at least, Tori Amos does something with it, and knows how to satisfy the very high expectations once again.

WIM SPIJKERS

**** Tori Amos - Boys for Pele (4 stars out of 5)