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Ocean to Ocean is the sixteenth studio album by American singer-songwriter Tori Amos, released on October 29, 2021.[4] A vinyl release followed on January 28, 2022.[5] Amos has supported the album with a 6-date UK/Ireland tour in March 2022, and a 34-date US tour that followed between April 27 and June 17, 2022; EU dates have been postponed to April 5 through April 30, 2023 due to the pandemic.[6][7]

Ocean to Ocean
Studio album by Tori Amos
Released	October 29, 2021 (2021-10-29)
Recorded	2021
Studio	Martian Engineering Studios (Cornwall, UK) Cyclops Sound Studio (Los Angeles, California) Studio Mezzanotte (Los Angeles, California) Brickhill Studios (Orleans, Massachusetts)
Genre	Alternative rock chamber pop pop rock[1]
Length	47:38
Label	Decca
Producer	Tori Amos
Tori Amos chronology
Christmastide (2020) Ocean to Ocean (2021)
Singles from Ocean to Ocean
"Speaking with Trees" Released: September 29, 2021 "Spies" Released: October 14, 2021

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	81/100[2]
Review scores
Source	Rating
Pitchfork	7.3/10[3]
PopMatters	8/10[1]

Background and composition

Amos shelved a whole record she had prepared upon entering the third lockdown of the pandemic at the beginning of 2021 in Cornwall, where she lives. She explained:

"These songs, when I would play them back, I would just think 'This is not taking me where I need to go out of this tonality that is toxic.' I didn't know how to get out. I couldn't go near the piano. I just had to sit there and say 'We don't have it. I don't have it. This record is not the elixir. It's not the medicine that will take me out of this rot.' [...] (The songs) were taking me to [...] battle, but then I'm asking 'What are you battling? Because battling isn't working right now. Maybe that was working a year and a half ago,...when (her memoir) Resistance came out.' But as the tides began to turn and as we began to see what battling looked like and then it takes us to watching an attempted coup live on television...oh my god! That's not the record.[8]

Amos then wrote and recorded a new album while in lockdown in Cornwall,[9] with her writing inspired by her fascination with "the county's landscapes and ancient myths".[10] Part of her writing was also explained to be in reaction to the 2021 United States Capitol attack.[5] The first song written for the finalized album was "Metal Water Wood".[8]

In a press release, Amos described the album as "a record about your losses, and how you cope with them". She elaborated that she realized she had to "write" to "shift" her perception of herself, saying: "I was in my own private hell, so I told myself, then that's where you write from—you've done it before." Amos also explained that the album is intended to "sit" with listeners, particularly if they are "in a place of loss. [...] When somebody is actually at that place, thinking 'I'm done,' how do you reach that person? [...] It's about sitting in the muck together."[5]

As Amos shot the album cover on August 17, 2021 and the album was being mixed, three more songs were written: "Addition of Light Divided", "Swim To New York State", and "29 Years".

Recording and mastering

Due to Cornwall under lockdown during the pandemic, instruments aside from the piano were recorded outside of Martian Engineering Studios, without Amos' presence.

"It went to (drummer Matt Chamberlain) first; this is the only record whereby there wouldn't have been in the room conjuring together and working together so then you're working off each other, and working off each other is a very different thing. This time, (Matt) had no idea, once it left him, anything was going to happen. So I think it probably shocked the hell out of him that Jon Evans [bassist] took '29 Years' to that Police kind of groove, but Matt didn't know til-- and (strings player) John Philip Shenale would say he really loves his position because he's almost the last one in; everything else is set and Tash is the very last one in so she kind of has a really good time cause she knows what's happened."[8]

Speaking on the vocal arrangements on the album:

"For 'Addition of Light...', we really wanted to create this [...] vocal-- not 'coven' that surrounded (my niece) but kind of [...] and we really wanted to, through voice, almost create this circle of light around her that would find her in New York at this particular time when we did it. [...] We were working on sonic spices to try and then turn them into light and frequency -- all these things -- in this song that then when Kelsey could listen that she could step into that and know 'I have complete protection from this entity that is not allowed back' into her sacred space. [...] Was it a charm? [...] it's not a spell, but songs can be the chants and [...] they can be the mantras."[8]

During mastering, the sequencing of the album was being discussed. It was considered to open the album with "Metal Water Wood" but ultimately was deemed to be "too literal". The placement of it and of "Devil's Bane" was a point of contention, with a faction of those involved wanted the latter placed farther down the album whereas another faction wanted it earlier.[8]

Other songs

Speaking about a track named "Ballerina":

There was a song on the (shelved) record ...called 'Ballerina' and I'm not sure how that got conjured. I can't remember what drove me to write it but I think [...] I began writing it in Florida, and when I'm on my own in Florida, conjuring starts to happen, imagination starts to happen, maybe fears start to happen. [...] An archetypal worst fear for some women is when the love of their life falls in love with a younger woman...so I wanted to I think explore it as a myth, as an idea, and I knew people who were going through this. [...] I didn't feel that those details [of those people] were going to 'magic' the story, so I did something. [...] There we are in Cornwall in the pantry this year and I'm thinking 'Ballerina, maybe she can make the record' and (my daughter's boyfriend) goes 'Ballerina -- is that about you and Mark?' and I said 'no, n-n-no.' He said 'but it is--' and I said 'n-n-n-n-n-no!' and then later on it became clear: 'Oh my god, what have I done?' [...] We're shooting the album cover and we're talking about the archetype of the witch and what the witch was doing, and the malevolent witch versus the benevolent witch, and that my malevolent witch was getting me to maybe lose my marriage and put a bomb in my marriage bed. [...] I have a good marriage, so it's like 'Where is the saboteur? What is this?' [...] 'Ballerina' gets thrown off the stage. [...] I really had to surrender and say 'No, I'm not going to do that.' And then all of a sudden just out of nowhere comes the line with the chords with the melody with (the first line of 'Swim to New York State').[8]

Recording for a 9-minute song named "Chiron" was not completed due to time constraints in order to complete "Addition of Light Divided".[8]

Critical reception

"Ocean to Ocean" received universal acclaim from music critics upon release. The album received a score of 81 out of 100 on the review aggregator website Metacritic, based on nine reviews, making it Amos' most well-received album since Metacritic began tracking reviews in 2001.[2]

Track listing

Personnel

Musicians

• Tori Amos – vocals, piano (all tracks); Hammond B3, keyboards, Rhodes, Wurlitzer electric piano (1–6, 8–11)
• John Philip Shenale – Marxophone, Optigan, sampling, synthesizer (all tracks); additional keyboards (1, 3–5, 11), Hammond organ (4, 5, 11)
• Tash – additional vocals (1–3)
• Jon Evans – bass (1–6, 8–11)
• Matt Chamberlain – drums, percussion (1–6, 8–11)
• Mark Hawley – guitar (1–6, 8–11), dobro (2, 3)

Technical

• Jon Astley – mastering
• Miles Showell – vinyl mastering
• Adrian Hall – mixing
• Mark Hawley – mixing, recording
• Jon Evans – recording (1–6, 8–11)
• John Philip Shenale – recording (1, 3–5, 11)
• Matt Chamberlain – recording (1–6, 8–11)
• Adam Spry – recording assistance

Artwork and design

• Matt Read – package design
• Desmond Murray – photography, hair stylist
• Kavita Kaul – make-up

Charts

Chart performance for Ocean to Ocean

Chart (2021–2022)	Peak position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[12]	46
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[13]	23
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[14]	54
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[15]	57
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[16]	58
French Albums (SNEP)[17]	200
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[18]	26
Irish Albums (IRMA)[19]	96
Polish Albums (ZPAV)[20]	34
Scottish Albums (OCC)[21]	19
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[22]	15
UK Albums (OCC)[23]	25
US Billboard 200[24]	104
US Top Alternative Albums (Billboard)[25]	9
US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)[26]	16

References

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