Fiona Apple - Fetch The Bolt Cutters Review
Lyrically, Apple’s thematic engagement with freedom from oppression and escapism from isolation couldn’t be anymore relevant with the time we’re living in.
This is a dense album. Pitchfork have notoriously given this a 10 out of 10 so obviously it would be wrong to simply overlook this album even if it doesn’t quite sit with me the way other singer-songwriters such as Laura Marling do. Though dense, this album is incredibly well crafted, there’s no doubt about that. This is Fiona Apple’s first album in eight years and 5th album in total. To many extents reviewing this album has been the bane of my quarantine but here we are and here’s what I think. The themes on the record explore freedom from oppression, Apple stated that her main message for this record was: "Fetch the fucking bolt cutters and get yourself out of the situation you're in".
‘I Want You To Love’ starts out with such a cool little percussive element only to be blown away by magnificent piano arpeggios and Fiona’s deeply powerful voice. She sounds angry on this track, almost howling the lyrics. The croaks in her voice at times show a sincere emotionality during this track but you can also sense a promotion of strength in Apple’s message. ‘Shameika’ is definitely one of the standout tracks. With its at times nauseating piano scales, this track really delivers instrumentally. One of the few tracks I find myself returning to on a regular basis from this record. Unlike other songs on this album, ‘Shameika’ has a sort of instantaneous catchiness to it.
The title track ‘Fetch the Bolt Cutters’ lyrically speaks of breaking out and cutting yourself free of the constraints in your life. Its scatty drum rhythms and fuzzy bass tones really compliment Apple’s singing style. ‘Under the Table’ is another catchy track where you can’t help but find yourself singing along ‘I won’t shut up’. Fiona Apple’s lyrical messages stay strong on this record. ‘Relay’ almost reminds of Juana Molina’s last album in its thick bass tones and scatty percussive elements. The track ends with Apple singing a cappella. On ‘Rack of His’ you can’t deny there’s a real sense of pain in Apple’s vocal delivery, almost crying the melody out during this track. Although, though don’t be fooled, instrumentally this track is quite pretty and chilled compared to prior tracks on this record.
‘Newspaper’ starts with Apple’s dogs barking before transitioning to industrial-esque rhythms that crawl out of the mix, Apple drones over the scatty percussive patterns. Towards the end of the track she sounds akin to Stevie Nicks as her voice pulsates. ‘Ladies’ is quite a sombre song hitting home harder than other tracks on this album emotionally. Fiona Apple almost raps her words on this track, whilst on the chorus sounds more akin to the chipmunk-like sounds that feature on hip-hop tracks. This is a really beautiful song, the instrumentation of which is lush and harkens back to the production on Andrew Bird’s ‘My Finest Work Yet’. ‘Heavy Balloon’ starts with big drum throbs; by the chorus there is a beautiful melody that uplifts the soul. In the verses Apple remains lyrically lucid: ’I’ve been sucking in so long, that I’ve been bursting from the seams’ which may be an interesting take on women in the music industry and their relationship with food and beauty. ‘Cosmonauts’ starts with cool jazzy double bass but unfortunately disintegrates as it becomes more grating to the listener due to Apple’s overuse of staccato shouts.
‘For Her’ starts with such a sweet little vocal melody, it sounds like Apple has triple or quadruple tracked her vocals here as she creates a borderline choir, with singing that reminds me of HAIM’s frantic 10-syllables-a-second singing style. This is the second shortest track on the record but feels incredibly full — and incredibly fulfilling. ‘Drum Set’ is actually quite a boring track, sadly like a number of tracks on this album. The excessive drone elements and repetitions are more uninteresting than anything else, with the excess in experimentation proving a detriment to the cohesion of this record. ‘On I Go’ is another track that reminds me of Juana Molina’s ‘Halo’ album but it’s lacking the warmth that this album has. There’s a real sense of stress on this record and this closing track summarises this sonic environment perfectly.
It’s clear there are a lot of influences on this album and this brings a lot of experimentation on Fiona Apple’s part. However, complexity doesn’t equate better music. Lyrically, Apple’s thematic engagement with freedom from oppression and escapism from isolation couldn’t be anymore relevant with the time we’re living in. Unfortunately though, I can’t help but feel that Fiona Apple’s music is a little bit demonstrative. At no point in the record do I really take anything from this apparent theme and musically I feel berated by the end of the record as many tracks are too rhythmically and percussively intense for what appears to be intense for the sake of being intense.
With Tchad Blake mixing and Bob Ludwig mastering you can see where this album gets such a sophisticated sonic range. Fiona has truly constructed a great piece of work here, but if it’s an eight-year wait for a project like this, and you think of other artists pushing genres such as King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard releasing 15 albums in a similar time period, you start to question whether this album is really indicative of praise as a concentrated work of sonic excellence. There’s no doubt this is a poignant and well thought-out piece of work from an incredibly talented artist. However, at times its experimentation limits the experience of the listener or perhaps the experimental nature of the record itself is ironically not engaging enough. Rarely, with this album, do I feel myself wanting to come back to specific songs except maybe a select few like ‘Shameika’. This lack of engagement is the only thing that really undermines this record. Fiona Apple is an incredible artist but this record just didn’t connect with me the way other similar artists have this year.
