Tori Amos has spent her career turning the personal into the political, the mythic into the immediate. With In Times of Dragons, her newly announced 18th studio album due out May 1 via Universal/Fontana, she leans fully into that alchemy — framing the present moment as a battle between storytelling, power, and survival.
The album, which arrives alongside newly revealed cover artwork, is described as a metaphorical narrative about the fight for democracy over tyranny. Amos has never been subtle about the forces she’s writing against, but here the language sharpens into allegory. “In Times of Dragons is a metaphorical story about the fight for Democracy over Tyranny,” she explains, calling the current political climate an “abhorrent non-accidental burning down of democracy in real time.” It’s a statement that situates the record squarely in the lineage of her most confrontational, morally urgent work.
That urgency has always been counterbalanced by Amos’ sense of ritual. The album unfolds through a cast of characters, continuing her long-standing practice of world-building — not as escapism, but as a way to process systems of control, silencing, and resistance. With In Times of Dragons, the pursuit of freedom collides head-on with the mechanisms that seek to contain it.
The album’s cover artwork reinforces that sense of ceremony. Shot by photographer Kasia Wozniak using a vintage RA-4 direct paper positive process, the images were composed slowly on a large-format camera, emphasizing tactility and intention over speed. Wozniak describes the collaboration as ritualistic, while Amos notes that working alongside Wozniak and stylist Karen Binns to bring the album’s characters to life was a profoundly moving experience.
In Times of Dragons will be available in multiple formats, including a limited-edition “Smoke Swirl” vinyl with a signed art card, exclusively through the Decca US store. Pre-orders are now live.
Amos will support the album with an extensive 35-date U.S. summer tour, following her largest European run in over a decade. The U.S. dates include stops in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Nashville, Philadelphia, and a standout performance at Red Rocks Amphitheatre. She’ll be joined once again by longtime collaborators Jon Evans (musical director and bass) and Ash Soan (drums), with the addition of three backing vocalists — Liv Gibson, Deni Hlavinka, and Hadley Kennary — expanding the sonic palette onstage.
An exclusive artist presale begins January 21 at 10 a.m. local time via toriamos.com, with general on-sale following January 23.
Across nearly four decades, Tori Amos has built a body of work that refuses separation between art and action. With In Times of Dragons, she once again binds the political and the personal, offering a record that feels less like commentary and more like invocation — a reminder that stories, when told clearly enough, still have the power to resist.
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