Amos, Tori - American Doll Posse (Album)

8:00am Thursday 3rd May 2007

ALTHOUGH 'out-whacked' in recent years by the fervently unhinged Joanna Newsom, Amos seems to have retained a following that remains willing to follow her into areas of most unlikely concepts.

Case in point, American Doll Posse, an album that is narrated through four separate incarnations of Tori. A band of the mind, if you like.

It is probably advisable to ignore this and simply attack this sequence of eclectic ditties one by one, soaking in Tori's time-honoured knack of establishing a melodic structure before dismantling it and allowing the song to crumble to climactic wreckage.

This happens several times here and to varying degrees of success. Aficionados will adore every nuance, of course, such is the blindness of adoration.

Those who still need convincing, such as myself, are left to hunt for intriguing moments, which are scattered unequally through this elongated album.

That stated, the fact that the following of an idiosyncratic female muse is commercially viable can only be a good thing.

Perplexing and fleetingly sexy.