Diving Deep Live is the sixth live album by American singer-songwriter and pianist Tori Amos. It was released on December 6, 2024, by Decca Records. The album was recorded during Amos's Ocean to Ocean Tour in 2022 and 2023 and features performances with bassist and musical director Jon Evans and drummer and percussionist Ash Soan.
The album draws from across Amos's catalog, with particular emphasis on deep cuts, B-sides and extended live arrangements. The standard vinyl edition contains twelve tracks, while the expanded CD and digital editions, titled Diving Deeper, contain four additional performances. The four bonus tracks were subsequently issued on vinyl as a Record Store Day exclusive in 2025.
"Cornflake Girl", recorded during the tour and included on the album, was released as its lead single on November 1, 2024.
Background and recording
The performances on Diving Deep Live were recorded during Amos's 93-date Ocean to Ocean Tour, which ran across 2022 and 2023 following delays caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The tour represented Amos's return to extensive live performance after a five-year absence. In a 2024 interview with The Guardian, Amos described the loss of live performance during the pandemic as particularly difficult because of the close relationship she maintains with her audience. She said that fans frequently send song requests accompanied by personal stories, and that learning how listeners have connected particular songs with their own experiences can change the way she understands those songs.
For the tour, Amos was accompanied by Jon Evans, her longtime musical director and bassist, and Ash Soan, who joined her touring band for the first time. Amos described playing with the pair as one of her greatest experiences on stage, particularly because the three musicians were able to improvise and "jam" together during performances.
The live arrangements were deliberately fluid. Amos has long been known for changing her set lists and arrangements from one performance to another, and the Ocean to Ocean Tour continued this practice. The Guardian noted that Amos typically changed the show each night apart from its opening and closing numbers, while requests from fans could influence the material performed.
Rather than attempting to reproduce the studio recordings, many of the performances on Diving Deep Live expand the original songs through extended piano introductions, instrumental passages and improvisation. The album therefore functions not simply as a record of songs from the tour but as a document of the arrangements and musical interplay developed by Amos, Evans and Soan during the performances.
Because the album was compiled from performances recorded at different stops on the tour rather than representing one complete concert, the resulting sequence presents a curated portrait of the Ocean to Ocean Tour. AllMusic described it as a snapshot of Amos's live performances during the period, while noting that the resulting set list brings together material from different performances.
The album is notable for the prominence given to songs that were not among Amos's major commercial singles. "Daisy Dead Petals", "Ruby Through the Looking-Glass" and "Sister Janet" are B-sides, while songs such as "Amber Waves", "Pandora's Aquarium", "Climb", "Spring Haze" and "Lady in Blue" occupy substantial portions of the track listing despite not being among her best-known recordings.
Several performances substantially expand upon their studio counterparts. "Cornflake Girl", one of Amos's best-known songs, is extended to nearly seven minutes and begins with an extended bass passage from Evans. "Spring Haze" similarly develops into an extended performance, while "Ruby Through the Looking-Glass" features an extended piano introduction.
"Climb" is particularly transformed in its live arrangement, incorporating elements of jazz and classical music. Higher Plain Music also noted that Amos's lower and deeper vocal register during this period gave the performance a darker and more forceful character.
The arrangements also allow the musicians to respond to one another. Higher Plain Music described the extended instrumental passages as playful and virtuosic, while noting the way Evans and Soan become active participants in Amos's piano-centered performances.
Release
Diving Deep Live was released on December 6, 2024, through Decca Records. The standard vinyl edition contains twelve tracks and has a total running time of 89:12. The expanded CD and digital editions, titled Diving Deeper, contain four additional performances for a total running time of 121:25.
The four additional tracks are "Here. In My Head", "Crazy", "Sister Janet" and "Mother Revolution". They were omitted from the vinyl edition because of the format's space limitations but were included on the CD and digital releases.
The four bonus performances were later issued together on a 12-inch vinyl EP for Record Store Day on April 12, 2025. The release, titled Diving Deeper Live (Bonus Tracks), was limited to 2,500 copies and pressed on custard-colored vinyl, with the four tracks arranged across two sides.
Track listing
All tracks are written by Tori Amos.
Diving Deep Live
Diving Deep Live track listing
No.
Title
Length
1.
"God"
5:01
2.
"Ocean To Ocean"
9:28
3.
"Amber Waves"
5:07
4.
"Daisy Dead Petals"
3:50
5.
"Pandora's Aquarium"
7:47
6.
"Silent All These Years"
6:24
7.
"Ruby Through The Looking-Glass"
8:04
8.
"Climb"
8:39
9.
"Spring Haze"
11:58
10.
"Code Red"
6:27
11.
"Cornflake Girl"
6:44
12.
"Lady In Blue"
9:37
Total length:
89:12
Diving Deeper bonus tracks
Diving Deeper bonus tracks
No.
Title
Length
1.
"Here. In My Head"
8:41
2.
"Crazy"
9:21
3.
"Sister Janet"
6:46
4.
"Mother Revolution"
7:25
Total length:
32:13
Critical reception
Diving Deep Live received generally positive reviews, with critics particularly praising Amos's piano playing, the arrangements, the selection of less frequently performed material and the way the album captures the atmosphere of her live performances.
Higher Plain Music rated the album 8/10 and praised Amos as an artist whose live performances are characterized by constantly changing arrangements, improvisation and unusual set lists. The review highlighted the extended introductions to "Spring Haze" and "Ruby Through the Looking-Glass", the transformation of "Climb", and the interplay between Amos, Evans and Soan. It also praised the mixing for placing Amos's piano prominently in the recording.
The Irish Times gave the album four out of five stars, describing it as an "A-grade" survey of Amos's lesser-known B-sides and deep cuts. The review praised the way the live versions develop songs beyond their studio arrangements, particularly "God", "Amber Waves", "Daisy Dead Petals" and "Cornflake Girl", and described the recording as an absorbing representation of Amos's live performances.
Liverpool Sound and Vision rated the album 8.5/10, praising its emotional range and the opportunity to experience Amos's live arrangements away from the concert setting. The review characterized the album as a deep exploration of her catalog and praised the performances of "God", "Ocean to Ocean", "Amber Waves", "Silent All These Years", "Code Red" and "Cornflake Girl".
God Is in the TV rated the album 9/10 and emphasized its appeal to longtime fans. The review praised the alternate arrangements of both familiar songs and deeper cuts, particularly "Sister Janet", "Ruby Through the Looking Glass" and "Climb", and concluded that the album came close to reproducing the experience of attending an Amos concert.
The Irish Times and God Is in the TV both emphasized that the album largely avoids relying on Amos's most obvious hits. Although "Cornflake Girl" and "Silent All These Years" provide familiar entry points, the greater emphasis on B-sides and album tracks gives the record the character of a deeper exploration of her catalog.
AllMusic described the album as an effective document of the Ocean to Ocean Tour and praised its extended arrangements of songs including "Ocean to Ocean", "Pandora's Aquarium" and "Spring Haze", as well as the inclusion of B-sides such as "Daisy Dead Petals", "Ruby Through the Looking-Glass" and "Sister Janet". The review regarded the album as an appropriate document of the tour while noting that other live releases, including the second disc of To Venus and Back, provide stronger examples of Amos's live power.
Tour and live performance
The performances were recorded during the Ocean to Ocean Tour, which began in 2022 after pandemic-related postponements and continued through 2023. The tour consisted of 93 dates and covered the United Kingdom, Ireland, Europe and North America.
Amos's approach to the tour was based on variation rather than reproducing a fixed concert program. She told The Guardian that she changed the show from night to night, with song requests from fans often contributing to the selection. The requests frequently came with personal stories, which Amos said could alter her understanding of a song and give it a new meaning in performance.
The touring configuration of Amos, Evans and Soan also created a setting in which extended instrumental passages became a significant part of the concerts. Amos described the opportunity to "sit back and jam" with Evans and Soan as particularly special, and the resulting interaction is reflected throughout Diving Deep Live.
The album's selection of material consequently emphasizes the exploratory side of the tour. Rather than functioning as a conventional greatest-hits live album, it preserves arrangements of songs that could be dramatically reworked from their studio versions and gives considerable space to pieces that had received less exposure in Amos' catalog.
