July 5, 2001 – The new CD from Tori Amos, titled Strange Little Girls, is due in stores September 18th. Each song on the album was written by a man, but is performed by Tori from the perspective of a female character. Songs composed by such artists as Neil Young, the Stranglers, Eminem, Depeche Mode, Slayer, Lou Reed, Lennon/McCartney, and others are taken apart and put back together in Tori Amos fashion.

In crafting the album, Tori wanted to talk about men -- how men see women, how men see themselves, and how the view changes depending on where you're standing. She wanted to talk about violence and identity. So Tori, the songwriter, turned to the words of men themselves to do it. "I've always found it fascinating how men say things and women hear them," she says.

"Words can wound and words can heal, and both are included on the album," says Tori. "I've heard a lot of people say, 'They're only words; what is everybody going on about?' But words are powerful; words are like guns. Your fingerprints cannot be erased from your words; you only leave the scene of the crime covered in ink. A person has to take responsibility for their words. We as writers cannot separate ourselves from what we create. All of these songs were created by powerful wordsmiths, whether you agree with them or not."

The 12 songs are told through the eyes of 13 women (one song features twins), each of whom has her own story to tell. Explains Tori: "Each woman approached me and said, 'I have a point of view on this song, that you may want to know, that may change how you hear its meaning.'" To reinforce the identity and reflect the essence of each woman, noted photographer Thomas Schenk has photographed Tori in the character of each of these strikingly different, equally captivating personalities.

The first single, "Strange Little Girl" -- written by the Stranglers and originally released in 1982 -- will be shipped to radio in mid-August.

Among the other songs on Strange Little Girls is Eminem's "97' Bonnie & Clyde." "When I first heard the song," says Tori, "the scariest thing to me was the realization that people are getting into the music and grooving along to a song about a man who is butchering his wife. So half the world is dancing to this, oblivious, with blood on their sneakers. But when you kill your wife, you don't get to control whom she becomes friends with when she's dead. She had to have a voice."

Immediately following the release of the album, Tori will embark on a cross-country concert tour, slated to begin in Miami, September 28th and conclude in San Francisco, November 21st. The shows will feature Tori alone at her keyboards -- marking her first completely unaccompanied performances since 1994.

Tori Amos's Strange Little Girls is the multi-Grammy nominated artist's sixth solo album, following five consecutive RIAA platinum-plus releases: the double-platinum Little Earthquakes (1992) and Under the Pink (1994), and the platinum Boys for Pele (1996), From the Choirgirl Hotel (1998), and To Venus and Back (1999).

Strange Little Girls track listing with song sources follows:

New Age (Reed)
      The Velvet Underground - from Loaded (1970)

97' Bonnie & Clyde (Mathers/Bass/Bass)
      Eminem - from The Slim Shady LP (1999)

Strange Little Girl (Black/Burnel/Cornwell/Greenfield/Warmling)
      The Stranglers - single (1982) and on various compilations

Enjoy The Silence (Gore)
      Depeche Mode - from Violator (1990)

Rattlesnakes (Clark/Cole)
      Lloyd Cole & The Commotions - from Rattlesnakes (1984)

I'm Not In Love (Stewart/Gouldman)
      10cc - from The Original Soundtrack (1975)

Time (Waits)
      Tom Waits - from Rain Dogs (1985)

Heart Of Gold (Young)
      Neil Young - from Harvest (1972)

I Don't Like Mondays (Geldof)
      The Boomtown Rats - from The Fine Art Of Surfacing (1979)

Happiness Is A Warm Gun (Lennon/McCartney)
      The Beatles - from The Beatles (White Album, 1968)

Raining Blood (Hanneman/King)
      Slayer - from Reign In Blood (1986)

Real Men (Jackson)
      Joe Jackson - from Night And Day (1982)