Top Songs of 2012 – #3
I’ve been pleased to see Fiona Apple’s latest album (after a seven year break) sitting at or near the to of one critic’s list after another.
The Idler Wheel… is a dark and difficult record but a deeply rewarding one. It epitomizes what it means to create art through popular music and it’s the best album I heard all year.
I’m approaching all of the artists in this musical genome series from the perspective of the categories I’ve defined, so in those terms it’s pretty clear that I’m a huge Fiona Apple fan because she’s a) a ‘Piano (Wo)man’ and b) ‘Melancholy.’
But if you were to ask me why I love Apple’s work apart from the context of this project, I wouldn’t mention either of those things. I would say I’m a Fiona Apple fan because of her voice, and because of the passion she pours into every lyric and melody she writes, every word and note she performs.
It’s been seven years since Fiona Apple’s last album, the much-delayed Extraordinary Machine. That record was initially leaked in one form before being officially released in another, and speculation was rampant that studio pressure had forced Apple to give the songs a more mainstream sound.
She denied that, and it doesn’t really seem like her. I’d expect her to never release another album in her life rather than something she wasn’t 100% behind.
The highest ranking sophomore album on this list, Fiona Apple’s When the Pawn… (the full title is a 90-word poem) totally caught me by surprise. I was a fan of Apple’s debut record, and had even seen her in concert opening for Counting Crows, but nothing on the first album prepared me for this one.
On her debut, Tidal, Apple’s voice was rich with a depth and maturity that belied her age, but many of her actual songs revealed her as the 19-year-old girl she was. She was tentative and prone to languid ballads that put her and her piano at center stage.
My first random selection this weekend is the title track from Fiona Apple’s third (and most recent) album, Extraordinary Machine.
It’s been seven years since this album was released and Apple’s fans are still waiting on new material. This woman certainly can’t be accused of flooding the marketplace. According to a recent tweet by Epic Records CEO L.A. Reid, a new Fiona Apple album is due sometime this year. But I’ll believe that when I see it.
Meet Me In Montauk 