Fetch The Bolt Cutters - Fiona Apple: Review
is a New York based singer-songwriter responsible for one of the most unique musical outputs in the world of indie for the last 25 years. The time between her releases has increased with each consecutive era of her career, and it has been 8 years since the release of her critically acclaimed 4th record in 2012. Fetch The Bolt Cutters was released with no singles and very little promo, but was still welcomed immediately by the indie community at large, proving how much influence Fiona has to this day.
Review By Lavender:
I've always been a pretty strong fan of Fiona Apple's discography, with the lone exception of her third record 2005's Extraordinary Machine. Her debut record Tidal and even more its follow-up When The Pawn are unique and interesting pieces of 90's indie that hold up remarkably well in the singer-songwriter heavy modern indie landscape. I also enjoyed her most recent record The Idler Wheel although maybe not quite as much as some others as the record ended up falling just short of my top 200 albums of the decade a few months ago. I was excited for this record regardless as Fiona consistently brings fresh innovations to her sound that make it rewarding time and time again when she emerges for a new release. As it turns out Fetch The Bolt Cutters is more experimental than its predecessor, as well as more cohesive and rewarding than anything Fiona has released in a very long time.
The record is mostly highlights and it gets going from the very start. I Want You To Love Me is a fantastic swirling piano ballad with a huge vocal performance that kicks the record off. The percussion on this record is excellent and I could say that as praise of just about almost every song here, so get used to it. The lyrics are fascinating and spark every time she delivers compelling lines throughout the song and the track walks a wonderful line between punchy and beautiful. Shameika is the next track and its an even better and stranger cut. Lyrically Fiona discusses a girl named Shameika who helped her deal with bullies and it clearly left an impression on her, albeit in a distant and almost unfriendly way. There is so much to the interesting dynamic of the stories she is telling but it is made even better by a wonderful chugging instrumental that once again brings the great percussion. Next up is the title track Fetch The Bolt Cutters which has a strong narrative tone to its verses and pairs it with a very sparse pairing of thick strings and almost industrial percussion. The track is a little bit sparse in the second half but the extended outro hangs around just long enough to keep me hooked until the next song kicks in.
The record hits another string of great tracks starting with Under The Table one of the most defiant songs on the record. The lush piano ballad sees Fiona resisting all who stand in her way with some more expressive percussion. The core of the track is mainly its title refrain but the rewarding instrumental and vocal performance make it a pretty consistent treat. Relay was one of the songs that really blew me away the first time I heard it because it kicks off with a charming enigmatic refrain that gives the track its title with some bouncy folkisms that are guaranteed to get stuck in your head. The track breaks these up with a number of different types of passages from dense and lyrically heavy verses to sparse instrumental bridges flanked with cult like chanting and rhythmic drumming. The song demands you always be on your toes and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
After a brief dilution the record returns to form on Newspaper with Fiona totally lighting it up with her vocal performance. The song deals in themes of deception and occasionally breaks down into a short but beautiful melody that I believe informs the name of the track. The song is technically about love too but in a way that is hard-hitting, confrontational and epic. Heavy Balloon is another track with intoxicating lyricism and a grand fascinating performance from Fiona. The booming percussion makes for one of the most overwhelming instrumental presences on the record, and the song is heavy and explosive as a result for another big highlight. Cosmonauts is one of the best tracks on the entire record with a bright and shimmering instrumental that reaches for some angelic highs. The track is more accessible than most of the album but Fiona absolutely knocks it down with beautiful vocal harmonizing on the hook and fiery yet subdued delivery on the verses, excellent song.
The record ends on a very hot note as well. For Herproves how absolutely beautiful Fiona is as a vocalist, she handles some slick and chearl pop inspired vocals before hard transitioning into some harsh and confounding vocal lines with some of the most brutal lyrics on the entire record. The versatility of the song in under three minutes and it won't let you stop for a second to think. Drumset is another song that demands you be in it for the long haul despite being on the shorter side. It has repeated refrains that dominate most of the tracks scond half but once again Fiona knows exactly when to cut it off before it gets dry. Finally the closing track On I Go doesn't have a whole ton of finality to it necessarily but I still enjoy it quite a bit. The percussion is once again a huge highlight and the core refrain of the song slowly slides from popping out when the song is at its highest into a much more distant and measured performance by the very end.
I didn't have very many problems at all on this record but when they did emerge it was only with two tracks. Rack Of His is probably the least exciting moment on the record. While the instrumental palette is still pretty solid Fiona takes a much more reserved approach vocally and makes the song really just about the lyrics. While they are excellent the track just needs more sonic progression and interesting elements like the rest of these songs. Finally Ladies is another song I think is fine but could be better. The track has a winding marathon style that requires a lot of focusing on moments where Fiona isn't quite giving it her all in the performance. The hook is relatively simple and gets a tad grating by the end of the song, once again the lyrics take center stage and while they are great they are really the only thing the track has going for it.
Fetch The Bolt Cutters is one of the most fiery, interesting and uncompromising records I've heard this year and I love it for that. With a remarkably consistent tracklist and relentless creativity from top to bottom there is very little of this record that I don't enjoy. Fiona is at her most creative while also being at her most blunt and the combination when put over the songs exceptional percussion from start to finish adds up to one of the best albums I've heard this year so far, and one I think is well worth a try for almost anyone regardless of your musical background. 9/10
