Fiona Apples back after 8 years with a new album called fetch the bolt cutters.
The critics are going crazy over it with 5 star reviews in the Guardian, independent and even a rare 10 from hipster bible pitchfork.
On first listen it is very good, but there’s a lot to take in. But I’m not sure it’s the greatest album of the 21st century that the critics are claiming. Time will tell. (I wonder if the critics are just getting giddy as they don’t have much else to write about.)
eddie g says
Sounds pretty dull to these ears.
Vulpes Vulpes says
Good grief. All the critics have guzzled acid and vomited into their keyboards. Unlistenable shite. Just an opinion, you know.
moseleymoles says
She was included early on in the Guardians’ Listening Digest and my listen of When the… was a right old slog. Not tempted to explore further.
fentonsteve says
I can remember getting When the Pawn… CD out from the library. Or, rather, not getting the CD. I took it to the counter and the librarian* grimaced and whispered “meet me in the car park after work”.
She later handed over her cassette copy and said “that’s saved you wasting a quid”.
(*) Katherine, if you’re reading this, I hope you’re keeping well
Tiggerlion says
Sawayama is much more interesting.
Lodestone of Wrongness says
I’m a Guardianista , them is right. After one listen (I know, only 5 more to go before my evidence can be admitted in court) this is pretty splendid stuff
Blue Boy says
I’m with Arch and Lodes. I’m only one listen is as well, but the immediate impression is it sounds just great. And this from someone who has struggled any time he’s tried to listen to her before.
Arch Stanton says
Two plays through now. And it is pretty great. It’s an album that needs listening to all the way through, I can’t imagine theres any radio friendly breakout hits but it’s a thumbs up from me.
eddie g says
These days I find myself being impatient with anything that you can’t hum.
Lemonhope says
Pleasantly surprised by how much I like this. I haven’t enjoyed much of her stuff since Tidal, and given that most of her output since then has been raved over by the press I wasn’t expecting a different reaction this time. But I find myself in agreement with the reviewers on this one.
Good stuff.
Podicle says
Sounds hideous.
But your comment about Pitchfork triggered me. I have been re-exploring my old CD collection which has been essentially inaccessible for 10 years. As there are a few thousand of the little buggers, I frequently come across bands that I have no recollection of and leap on the net to see if they are worth a listen. For anything in the early 2000s (with only a few exceptions my collection stops at about 2006) there is invariably a Pitchfork review, and my god, how awful they are. It’s like being in a uni refec and overhearing a first year cultural studies student trying to chat up a detached hipster chic.
The thought that there are a bunch of aged hipsters still churning this shit out in 2020 is almost as depressing as the thought that anyone is still paying attention to it.
Vulpes Vulpes says
fist-bump
Lodestone of Wrongness says
Whilst not agreeing with Foxy I can firmly state after two listens that it’s hard going and the kind of record you think worthy, risk-taking, more than a tad pretentious and not one that will be played often.
Mrbellows says
I’m just amazed that certain artists such as herself (see also Sade) are able to sustain support with few artistic reasons for.
SteveT says
What a pile of shite puts me in mind of that other phoney Joanna Newsom. 5 stars my arse.
Gary says
Hey, that’s a coincidence! 5 stars my arse too! At least!
Tiggerlion says
I’ve listened again and I like it a lot. It’s a brain dump from one of the strangest people in the music business. Awesome! Sawayama sounds ordinary in comparison (sorry, Rina).
Vulpes Vulpes says
I’ll have to give it another try (no guarantee I’ll think any better of the album as a whole, but willing to listen further than the nonsense song in the blog post).
Bob Lefsetz, whose opinion I often value, says it’s a worthy piece of art, and quotes lyrics from a few of the songs to back his claim up. I fear he may be right; they are interesting, if slight.
What puzzles me is that the track which is embedded in the OP is unadulterated shite with little to redeem itself – whereas the lyric excerpts I’ve read sound far more interesting.
@Arch-Stanton – Why did the OP include such a bloater of a track to sample for us?
Blue Boy says
It’s worth the effort I think; I’m enjoying it a lot. Arch posted the opening track, which, whilst I don’t agree that it is unadulterated shite, is, I accept, more likely to send people running than much of the album. I really like the percussive momentum a lot of it has, both from the instrumentation and her use of repeated vocal and lyric lines. The title track is excellent, and Ladies and Under the Table are hilarious. If the record has one lesson it is ‘don’t be an ex of Fiona Apple’. She’s smarter than you and she’ll get her revenge.
Tiggerlion says
Doesn’t the opening track feature Fiona having an orgasm?