Tori Amos has surprise-released a new album to accompany her upcoming children’s book, Tori and the Muses.
The nine-track album, The Music of Tori and the Muses, hit streaming services Friday, Feb. 28, ahead of the book’s March 4 release. Amos made the album with many of her frequent collaborators, including John Philip Shenale, Matt Chamberlain, Jon Evans, Mark Hawley, and Ash Soan.
“We are so excited for all of you to hear it as you read the new book,” Amos wrote of the new album on Instagram.
Tori and the Muses, which features illustrations from Demelsa Haughton, tells the story of a young artist (named, of course, Tori) whose frustration with her father’s insistence that she rehearse for a music recital leads her to embark on an adventure with the 11 Muses who’ve been guiding her artistic pursuits. The Muses, per a description, “remind Tori that inspiration is everywhere, and perhaps in helping others find their own Muses she may better understand herself.”
Amos has said her own creative journey as a child inspired the new book, and she hoped that the tale would help others find their own artistic spark. “Sometimes people will say to me, ‘But I try to go out and find the muses you talk about,’” Amos said in a video statement earlier this year. “But you don’t want to find the ones I’m talking about. I’m interested in yours. I want to know how you get inspired. They will be uniquely your own, and I believe that deep, deep in my heart that they exist for everybody. Trust your muses.”
Next week, Amos will kick off a short book tour in support of Tori and the Muses. The trek starts March 2 in New York City and includes stops in Baltimore, Naperville, Illinois, Corte Madera, California, and Los Angeles.
