Fiona Apple’s ‘Fetch the Bolt Cutters’ is a triumphant statement of self-discovery and solidarity, and the best work of her career. Read our review
She’s not making the journey alone. This is Apple’s most communal album yet, right down to the recording and production that took place almost entirely at her house in Venice Beach, California. On, Apple had experimented with translating the vaudeville flourishes of her earlier work into found-sound recordings: a rip of paper here, a stomping boot through gravel there.
That percussive approach to the album keeps the potential chaos afloat — you remember every drum beat on this record — and each musical decision feels as sharp and precise as Apple’s lyrics, from the gospel harmonies that chant over triplet beats on “Relay,” to the invigorating dog barks and cat meows that punctuate “Fetch the Bolt Cutters,” to the ominous, alien hum that opens “Newspaper.
True to any discussion of female relationships and shared trauma, Apple’s transitions between these threads are purposely jarring and unpredictable. The vengeful, spiraling “Newspaper” sees Apple empathizing with a woman who has suffered abuse from the same man as she has, to the point where she feels a bizarre love for this stranger. “I wonder what lies he’s telling you about me, to make sure that we’ll never be friends!” Apple wails, pleading in a one-sided conversation.
One gets the sense that after all this time, Apple finally knows what, or who, she’s really fighting for. Album opener “I Want You to Love Me” could be called a spiritual successor of “To Your Love,” from 1999’s, only instead of targeting her critics, Apple pens a rallying cry for anyone who’s grasped at meaning in her words, depicting the relationship as a two-way street. “And I know that you know that you’ve got the potential to pick me up,” she sings, her voice ragged.
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