Thrill 4-4: Let's go sailing in Cornwall {Jamaica Inn}

To me, this is the first of four songs on The Beekeeper that probably surpass anything she's done for sheer beauty of sound (the others are Sleeps With Butterflies, Martha's Foolish Ginger and Goodbye Pisces). I know there are some fans complaining about the more opulent sound Tori is using these days, but as it was always her ear for combining sounds that I loved, I have absolutely no problem with her producing something this rich.

Jamaica Inn almost has a fairytale air to it, or a folksong touch. No doubt this is helped by the use of mandolin (I hereby nominate the song for best use of mandolin in a Tori song - it's certainly better than Snow Cherries From France) and the very simple chords in the verses.

There must be something going right, because the chorus contains a chord progression that often annoys me no end and here it seems perfectly judged. The critical chord happens just before the word "pirates" and again at "firmaments". It's a 'chromatic' chord, used to heighten emotion as the bass line moves up a small step. I've seen more than one average tune made to sound schmaltzy by overuse of this kind of device, but Tori succeeds in placing it so that it adds a touch of spice.

I might not like this song quite so much if I wasn't aware of the meaning of the lyrics. Someone who isn't obsessive enough to know Tori lives in Cornwall, and who doesn't know the rather unique methods of Cornish pirates might not recognize the metaphor being used here. Cornish 'pirates' (actually, it was sometimes an entire village) used to lure ships on to the rocks by hanging out lanterns that resembled lighthouses, but in the wrong places. So instead of finding safe harbour, a boat would be wrecked at the base of the cliffs. Daphne du Maurier, a Cornish novelist, wrote a book called 'Jamaica Inn' (it's a real place) which includes these activities. Oh yes, another of her novels is 'Rebecca'.

See? Easy when you know. For some miraculous reason I knew ALL of this before ever hearing this song, so for once unlocking Tori's meaning was pretty simple for me. And I like the metaphor - betrayal, a new woman as a 'wrecker', what was thought to be a safe relationship turning out to be anything but.

Round it all off with a glittering, delicate piano figure and you have a winning recipe. If you'd told me a few albums ago that Tori would ever sound like this, I might have found it hard to imagine. But I probably would have still believed you, because that's the genius of the woman.