fiona apple - fetch the bolt cutters (2020)

When The Pawn now and forever but this album is fucking amazing

Hey this is really good.

I didn't expect it to be so rhythm-focused. I said it after the last album, but this just reinforces it: she's trying to make her own Hounds of Love.

And whoever said Suzanne Vega is also spot on.

i continue to be so happy this album exists

also alfred you need to listen to when the pawn right fucking now!!!!! it'll crush you!!!!!!

it's like imo in the constellation of your tastes that is a missing star, you gotta hear it

I will agree that When the Pawn is a total winner.

And I have to believe the her writing and arranging process is exceptionally intricate. She's become quite a masterful writer.

yeah this album is exceptional. it's unhinged and mad at times, in a way that Brian Wilson's 70's output was mad.

Haven't heard her since the 90s, but so many different people were flipping over this today now I'm interested. Descriptions and references in this thread have me excited--"Jungle Line," 80s Tom Waits...

My only issue with this album is there is going to be absolutely no suspense when it comes to the winner of our end of year album poll next January.

When The Pawn is still my favourite with The Way Things Are being my favourite song of hers.

yeah this album is exceptional. it's unhinged and mad at times, in a way that Brian Wilson's 70's output was mad.

― akm, Friday, April 17, 2020

Not the defense I needed lol

Thanks, Brad. I will. I own the rest.

"heavy balloon" is a really sick r&b song about depression

I was working at a music store when The Pawn came out. I didn’t know anything about Fiona Apple and assumed she was boring angsty teeny pop. A promo of Pawn landed in my lap and I put it on in the car driving home from work and it blew me away. The production, the lyrics, her voice. Just the sound of the album is amazing, everything else is gravy.

Kept up with her since then, but I’ve never heard the first album.

tidal's great, nothing but hits in her catalog

"the first taste" and "never is a promise," right in a row, is some '90s-ass sequencing but i love it

she has a pretty spotless discography, each album is amazing in it's own way.

Just heard about the 10! Wow, congratulations Fiano!

'90s-ass sequencing

against every instinct, i need to know more

"Fiano" lol

against every instinct, i need to know more

― mookieproof, Friday, April 17, 2020 7:44 PM (nine minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

"first taste" is this amazing tactile sade-esque groove thing, "never is a promise" emotionally shattering and spare

and i associate really intensely dynamic mood shifts between tracks with '90s albums

I keep trying to warm up to Fiona Apple, but I wish she would go into poetry slam mode at least 20% less often.

i associate really intensely dynamic mood shifts between tracks with '90s albums

this deserves further exploration imo! (i don't think i agree that the '90s were special for this, but i'll bet we have opinions)

yeah on further examination i'm *certain* the '90s weren't special for that

nor for asses

This is a terrific headphones album.

Ladies!!! Loving this.

Lately I’ve been working my way through stacks of cds that friends have given me as they spotified up. Good music but it’s all old stuff. John Prine, blues, singer-songwriters.

It’s great to hear something new and captivating. Just what I needed. Every song feels like an environment with a startling sense of space.

I remember listening to I Want You To Love Me a lot in 2013 when it was on YouTube, so glad it made it all this way.

Out of interest, was this a "surprise" release?

I realise that reviewers obviously had it in enough to for all the reviews to drop on release day, but was it definitely coming out this Friday all along or was that only announced this week? There wasn't any mention of a release date in the New Yorker article last month as far as I can remember.

check out that rack of his

the release date was announced at the start of the month

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_66Skytfh3Y

it's wild to compare this early version of "Ladies" to the final one

the release date was announced at the start of the month

― ufo, Saturday, April 18, 2020 10:43 AM (one hour ago) bookmarkflaglink

ah right! thanks, obviously i totally missed that.

I liked the singles on the debut but never really followed her after that. I really like this. First thing I thought of was Tom Waits. I wish it was a little more melodically interesting - a lot of the vocal melodies are very sing-songy - but I see that the vocals are in service of the rhythm, which when combined with all the wordplay and internal rhyme makes me think of hip-hop.

She seems to be having a real good time on this album, even in moments of pain, there is a real confidence to her delivery. She is self-indulgent, but not self-conscious. I don't know anything about her now, but this strikes me as an album made by someone with a lot of time, money, and pot.

Newspaper is probably my favorite so far; when she double tracks the vocals on certain lines it kills. Is it just me or does it speed up in the second half?

Its not just you! Very subtle tempo changes throughout the song ( around 3:30 , and 4:07 mark) Or it could just be us.

I couldn't tell if it was just her vocal attack speeding up or the rhythm as well.

took my first walk with this yesterday, it was pretty special. top 2 music walks of the year, along with a Saint Cloud one.

Very impressive record. Gimme a few more listens before I can tell you how much I actually like it (she's been hit and miss with me in the past).

"Shameika" is pretty amazing.

For anyone just hearing Apple for the first time and liking this one, I recommend the previous album 'The Idler Wheel...' its in a similarly vein with the clattery percussion etc. At some point I need to spend more time with the first 3 which I've never really fully engaged with.

Never heard, but "Hot Knife" (which I think was from that record) was my favourite thing that she'd done so far.

The stretch of Ladies, Heavy Balloon, Cosmonauts and For Her is 10/10

The stretch from I want you to love me to On I go might be too.

is there a word for the type of vocalizing she does at the end of "i want you to love me"? it reminds me of patty waters.

I can't decide if I like this or if it annoys the hell out of me.

on my first listen right now, felt very "this is really good and will reward multiple listens" until "newspaper" lifted me off the fucking ground and now "heavy balloon" is killing me. this is really, really good.

just want to say i really like this album too. "Relay", in particular - i have no idea how she came up with the vocal rhythm of the chorus, it seems like it wouldn't work at all, and yet by the 4th time around it's the center of the song

definitely worth hearing this on headphones or a good system because the low-end percussion *knocks*

I will say that on my first pass through this album, I was constantly noticing the percussion (in a good way).

This is some amazing lofi/hifi shit. I feel it opens up flawlessly but there is a bit of a lull for me with Relay and Rack of His, but this is nitpicking a pretty outstanding record. The editing and arrangements are so intricate yet playful! This was made by someone who loves making music. I love how she calls them percussion orchestras.