Seventeen years after her solo debut album Tori Amos recently released her first holiday themed album. While there are some artists who just cover, Amos takes on some old favorites and traditional Christmas carols such as “The First Noel” and “Silent Night” by renaming the titles, adding her original tunes and sometimes even changing the lyrics.
 
The gems of the album are “Star of Wonder” and “Winter Carol” (she wrote the latter for the musical adaptation of “The Light Princess”). Both songs reflect her known ability to create beautiful sounds accompanied by dark, haunting and eerie atmospheres. She makes these songs sound as if they are sung by an angelic Elven maiden during the medieval/dark age. I also enjoy listening to “Jeannette, Isabella”, which showcases brilliant intertwining and harmony between Amos’ piano and an acoustic guitar. Amos sings gently, softly and articulately like a mother singing lullabies to her children. Speaking of mother, she duets with her daughter Natashya in “Holly, Ivy, and Rose”. Her daughter’s innocent voice enhances Amos’ mature voice.  Every song is dreamy and mellow, except “Pink and Glitter”, which is more suitable for a glamorous and lavish holiday ballroom dance featuring a big band. The song itself brings out her sexy side, and her beautiful and hypnotic voice makes it irresistible, nonetheless, it seems to be unfitting to the rest of the songs.
 
If you are looking for a provocative or cynical Tori Amos, naturally you won’t find her in this album. Heck, after all this album is intended for the holiday season a.k.a. the merriest time (for some the most stressful time) of the year. In spite of that, Midwinter Graces is not a purely religious and Christmas only album. Of course, Amos’ renditions are neither improved versions nor replacements of the originals. Her interpretations are tastefully done, and the album is more like a celebration of winter solstice and the holiday spirit. It makes listeners imagine cold, crisp air, a starry sky, and tree silhouettes, and grab a cup of hot chocolate in front of the fireplace.