Fiona Apple

[Charlottexseax 7,605]

im a little worried that its being described as the idler wheel as its my least favorite fiona album (apart from the 1st and last two tracks which are career highlights)

 

 

It is a lot like Idler. No ballads, lots of percussions, weird piano stuff, etc.

[Terrence Loves Me 71,657]

It is a lot like Idler. No ballads, lots of percussions, weird piano stuff, etc.

ugh damn thats sounding dissapointing... maybe she can keep it

[Charlottexseax 7,605]

ugh damn thats sounding dissapointing... maybe she can keep it

 

 

it's good but I feel the same way, I DESPERATELY want a Tidal 2.0 instead of an idler 2.0 but w/e it still has some very good songs then we're back to our I Know - Shadowboxer - Paper Bag - Slow Like Honey schedule 

[millimillenary 513]

i think my favorite is ladies... wow i love this woman

[Kurac na Biciklu 2,359]

I wiжжжжжжжжжжжжжжжж

[maxthehitman 1,727]

Note --  When I write down "Idler´s Wheel" record, I actually mean the song track is played out in

Fiona´s usual style of jazz-like drum beats, followed by her playing piano in her jazzy-style and singing.

Any song on this new record could very well belong in any of her previous records.  They fit so well

into any of her past albums and that is good too.

You can even  mix ALL of her songs and you would not know it.

 She has not lost her touch in music writing and singing ! 

This is Fiona Apple at her most wonderful and that we have grown to love over the past years.

 

• 
  
• Tidal (1996)
  
• When the Pawn... (1999)
  
• Extraordinary Machine (2005)
  
• The Idler Wheel... (2012)
  
• Fetch the Bolt Cutters (2020)
  

 

 

This is my simple review as I go along listening to each track on this new album.

It is dificult to describe each song , because on some tracks the melody and drumbeats just jump at you and

then bounce all over the room . Sort of like a jazz-bee-bop song from the 1950s. Her voice has not changed over the years

and I feel like I am listening to a young Fiona Apple. She introduces into some songs some singing acapella, sort

of like what Bjork did with her record "Medulla".

 

 

01. I want you to love me = Beautiful slow-like piano melody, beautiful voice. In the same style as "Idler Wheel"

Very cool start for an album.

 

02. Shameika = A little faster song but still in the style as "Idler Wheel". It has this Jazz-like piano drive throughout 

the song, very cool. It swirls around your head with sound melodies!

 

03. Fetch The Bolt Cutters = Another mellow song with an hypnotic drum beat and jazz-like qualities to the

sound. I would also say its got a Bjork style sound to it. Very cool ! I like the dog barks coming in and out

of the track. Time to release that dog !... Fetch The Bolt Cutters !

 

04. Under The Table = Fiona is such a clever song-writer and singer. Love this song "I won´t shut up!", she tells you. 

Another piano song with some jazz-like drum beats. 

 

05. Relay = An upbeat track. Very original and she sings it so well. Seems that there is only drums and bass on this track.

Clever songwriting and lyrics on this one too.

 

06. Rack of His = A violin starts ... sounds like... a 1950s suspense film from Hitchcock or some Crime Noir.

Cool drums on this track too. 

 

07. Newspaper = I have to say it again, Fiona is such a clever songwriter and singer. This track seems to have

just drum-beats. The background voices seem to sound like something you would hear in Bjorks Medulla record.

 

08. Ladies = Heavy bass and slow drums...  a piano melody. Great tongue-twisting lyrics. Sounds like it would 

fit in well with all her other records. Very cool song.

 

09. Heavy Balloon = Cool song. She is a good screamer as well as a singer.

 

10. Cosmonauts = This song fits well into the "Idler´s Wheel" record. Groovy tune and story-telling.

 

11. For Her = She is doing a Bjork "Medulla" version here on this track. Hand-claps, double voices... triple-voices...

singing her lyrics... Kick-drums. 

 

12. Drumset = Jazzy drums, and an harp sound. "Idler´s Wheel" style and very cool song.

 

13. On I Go = Hard driven drum beats and singing. 

[expandableclitoris 9,087]

well i love Idler wheel and was obsessed with it during high school and it was one of the many albuns that helped me get into experimental music in general so....... ill def check it out with some good eyes

[Thunder Revenant 20,686]

God the opening of that album is really fucking me up. It feels so surreal to hear her again

[expandableclitoris 9,087]

the Shameika song 

[Foxglove 2,266]

I love every fuckin bit of this album

[expandableclitoris 9,087]

 

Its on youtube!!!!!

[pin up galore 17,841]

the end of I want u to love me come THRU dolphin queen! this shit is gonna end me I dont think im ready 

[bluefiona 8,050]

Listening to it now on Spotify. 

[bluefiona 8,050]

ugh damn thats sounding dissapointing... maybe she can keep it

 

Just listen to it on Spotify and see for yourself. 

[True Romance 6,187]

ok WOW the album is AMAZING

[TrashMagiq 55,328]

a 10 from pitchfork oh wow, shameika made several points

[Ryusei 5,020]

yup yup another amazing album added to her discography. 

[Kurac na Biciklu 2,359]

2шђо

[slang 1,509]

Fiona's back and she's better than ever. Jazz grunge?, but the piano playing on the first track just slays me. Nice inventive use of subtle percussion and standup jazz bass throughout, and of course her voice is still her voice.

 

I'm probably gonna catch shit for this, but .... there is possibly a Kate Bush reference in the title track (the shoe-filling/ running-up-that-hill lines), so an interesting question for me is whether there are any other references to musical artists she may like. So in "Newspaper" does this imagery remind anyone of anybody:

 

And you're wearing time, like a flowery crown
Sitting that, sitting that big cat down
And I'm alone on the summit now
Trying not to let my light go out

 

On a more serious note, the song seems to be about a commonality between Fiona and this other female protoganist in the song, whoever she may be, vis a vis being addicted to an abusive/exploitive relationship with a male (someone she wants to be proud of her). The title of the song also suggests public critical relationships with the male gender. It is interesting that Fiona's last album was at about the time of BTD's release and that she was aware of LDR's situation.

 

https://muumuse.com/2012/06/fiona-apple-talks-new-album-lana-del-rey-to-interview-magazine-and-releases-new-song-werewolf.html/

[Thunder Revenant 20,686]

Really digging this album. My favourite track so far is probably Newspaper. Songwriting, delivery and percussion are all so on point.

 

I Want You To Love Me is one hell of an overtune. After all this time without even hoping for new music from her, hearing the one-of-a-kind intro with the skipping beats and then the signature-piano before her voice finally kicks in definitly gave me the chills.

 

Shameika is such a classic Fiona track and I guess every fan will love it. It really evokes the vibe her first three records had. Same with Fetch The Bolt Cutters.

And Heavy Balloon is an instant-classic-Fiona-Apple-power-anthem.

 

The rest of the album is really good aswell, I love the cynism of Ladies, the misleading ease of Rack of His and Cosmonauts powerful buildup.

 

However, I also have to admit that there are some tracks that aren't that much of my taste. While the chant-structure was executed really well on both On I Go and Drum Set, it's a bit annoying on songs like Under The Table and - especially - Relay. Can't really wrap my head around For Her either.

 

In the end - as expected - this album goes into the same direction The Idler Wheel ... did. Smart, well-written and high quality, yet also the kind of music you need to be in the right mood and place for to listen, as its demanding as much attention as a book to recieve.