I think that it’s best to listen to Sarah Fimm’s albums in reverse chronological order. Earlier this week I started with Nexus, which is more comfortably electronic than her previous works. I ended up at Cocooned, her experimental debut, which seems better in the context of her later albums than if merely listened to in isolation. That’s not to say that her later music is worse. Whilst listening to Cocooned, I was called to listen to Tori Amos’ From The Choirgirl Hotel.

As soon as Cocooned finished, I started on From The Choirgirl Hotel, and discovered that it really is my favourite Tori album, much more than I originally thought. Listen to the opener Spark and be floored by its magnificence, twice. I soon acquired my Do Not Disturb Me attitude, which means bad things for those that interrupt my listening session.

Fortunately, all was well, and I finished it successfully without disruption. Then onto Boys For Pelé and To Venus And Back. One of them is my least liked, but I don’t know which or why.

Friday was a music-free day, so I resumed listening to Boys For Pelé, and was astonished how much I missed this music. And it was only one day. Then onto to Under The Pink. One of the benefits of having all of Tori’s albums is that each album can now be listened to in the context of the rest of her albums, spotting the progressions, repeated ideas and cross-pollination of musical motifs. Another benefit is that the albums and songs that I didn’t fancy as much now take on a greater significance. I feel compelled to listen to them, to delve into their very essence, without the baggage of the rest of her music, and they turn out to be very good indeed.

Songs that I once mentally skipped over, now become great pieces of work. Doughnut Song, Marianne, Bells For Her are my tracks of the days. None of her contemporary followers or peers writes like Tori does. The piano work on Bells for Her is sparse but incredible.