“Nothing to figure out, I gotta get him out, it’s time the truth came out that he don’t give a shit about me!” In a career full of caustic, cathartic break-up anthems, “Get Gone” may be the best of the bunch. On “Get Gone,” she shouts the chorus like she’s trying to project a swarm of angry bees from her mouth. “Get Gone” (from When The Pawn …, 1999)Īpple is a gutsy singer, often willing to push her voice to the point of distortion. Apple’s delivery is heartbreaking, and the song’s direct denouement is especially affecting coming from a singer better known for complex metaphors and five-dollar words.Ĩ. “So be it, I’m your crowbar - if that’s what I am so far,” Apple sings, “until you get out of this mess.” “I Know” closes out When The Pawn … on a devastating note, a song about being the third wheel and hoping against hope that things will work out. Things may be going swimmingly now, but eventually she warns that “my pretty mouth will frame the phrases that will disprove your faith in man.” Damn. There was the MTV speech her relationship with magician David Blaine and the cancellation of the final leg of her first tour, due to “personal family problems.” “Fast As You Can,” the first single from When The Pawn …, knowingly winks at those accusations while galloping away from the fear that comes with allowing yourself to be in an emotionally vulnerable relationship. It’s maybe the quintessential Fiona Apple lyric: “Oh darling, it’s so sweet you think you know how crazy I am.” By the time the skittering “Fast As You Can” hit the streets in 1999, Apple’s identity as a pop eccentric had already been fashioned. “Fast As You Can” (from When The Pawn …, 1999) Luckily, she has been exceptionally consistent if not especially productive - her four studio albums are each overflowing with riches, filled with songs documenting emotional trauma with remarkable clarity, chops, and sometimes even a little humor. Given recent events and her track record, it’s unlikely we’ll hear new music from Apple anytime soon. Well, it was nice to have her back while it lasted. The unlikely transition from laughingstock MTV princess to irrepressible indie queen was complete. ![]() Still, 2012 was a huge year for Apple, with The Idler Wheel placing high on nearly every major music publication’s year-end list (and topping Stereogum’s own list). Unfortunately it was overshadowed in part by her arrest for hashish on the Texas border - for a hot second she was a cultural flashpoint again, and people like Perez Hilton, as they have been wont to do, said stupid things. After finally resurfacing at last year’s SXSW, Apple released The Idler Wheel - a stark, stunning, and percussion-oriented record, arguably her best yet. Ultimately, Elizondo’s version was the one to see official release with Brion’s take still floating around online, fans remain divided on which is better. Dre), a leak of the unfinished Brion tracks, and alleged record label consternation that launched the “Free Fiona” fan campaign aimed at pressuring Sony to put out the album. ![]() Her third album, 2005’s Extraordinary Machine, came with a complicated backstory featuring a producer switcheroo midway through its recording (from longtime collaborator Brion to Mike Elizondo, best known for his work with Dr. By the time she famously broke down on stage at the Roseland Ballroom in New York in 2000, her stint as a unit-shifting pop star was all but over. 1999’s When the Pawn … was the first classic Apple album - a much more mature effort that nonetheless sold well short of Tidal’s numbers. She (perhaps rightly) took a lot of shit for it - earning a scathing rebuke from no less than Janeane Garafalo in a recorded comedy sketch. It’s been a long, strange journey for Apple since bursting onto the scene in the mid-’90s with the porny video for “Criminal” from her debut album Tidal, and the infamous “This world is bullshit!” speech at the 1997 MTV Music Video Awards. She’s that especially rare public figure in the digital age - one who still cultivates an air of mystery and distance. She’s released only four albums in 17 years - 2012’s The Idler Wheel was her first in seven years it was another six years between the prior one, Extraordinary Machine, and its predecessor, her second effort, When the Pawn …. She doesn’t drive and claims there is no one she speaks to on a daily basis. club Largo, where she occasionally hops on stage with pal and resident performer Jon Brion. ![]() Apple says she rarely ventures outside her Los Angeles home, except when visiting the L.A. Of course, we shouldn’t be surprised - disappearance is part and parcel of Apple’s career trajectory. Where are you, Fiona Apple? After a banner 2012, the singer-songwriter recently cancelled her only scheduled appearance for 2013, at Barcelona’s Primavera Sound festival she also torpedoed a slew of South American tour dates late last year with no signs of rescheduling on the horizon.
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