Greetings,
Well, it has happened. It took about seven years, but, finally, we have a new album from Fiona Apple. I'm not going to review it today, because I've only had it for a few days and it hasn't sunk in yet. Maybe some other time. But this new release has made me reflect on her career and its effect on me.
Like most people, I discovered her around 1996 or '97. I actually remember the first time I heard her music, and, believe it or not, it was on MTV. Yeah, back when the M actually meant something. Anyway, I was up late one night and I saw her video for "Sleep To Dream". I did like the video, but I was more taken aback by the song. Her voice, the lyrics, the music, it all just made sense to me. At that point, I was a mere couple of years into being a serious writer, so I was constantly on the lookout for things to inspire me. She definitely did that.
So I went right out and got her first album, Tidal, and it was (is) amazing. I think a lot of us gravitated toward her music, because, at the time, we were being bombarded with another wave of "pop" music. You know, boy bands, teen girl singers, and whatnot. She really was a breath of fresh air. Of course, with the good comes the bad. First, I heard a lot of people criticizing her for how skinny she was. To that I say, who cares? Let her be skinny. Although, I was shocked when I found out she was only 5'2 since she always looked about 5'9 to me. Okay, maybe she was a little on the waify side. Then, after her speech at the MTV awards, people started to turn against her. I think they thought she was being pretentious by telling kids to just be themselves and not try to do everything that famous people do just because they're famous. Yeah, that actually sounds like a good idea to me. Maybe since she was about 20 at the time, they felt she was in no position to say anything meaningful or intelligent. Because the youngsters aren't supposed to be smart. Whatever.
Now with her second album, even I have to admit that she might have been a little pretentious with the title. She gave the album a 91 word title. I guess it was a poem or something of which the first three words were "When the Pawn", so therefore everyone just calls that album When the Pawn . . . Part of me thinks she did this just to mess with people, and frankly, I'm fine with that, since I tend to do that a lot. Anyway, about the songs here, they were not as good as the first album, therefore, it did not do as well. The whole thing almost felt rushed, the way a lot of second albums that are following a big success often do. It seems as though she wrote a lot of it just to get it done. I could be wrong, and it does have its moments, but that's just my feeling.
Then she disappeared for a while. Hey, why not? In 2005, she returned with Extraordinary Machine. This one caused a lot of commotion. Fiona had recorded a version of the album, but both she and the label were dissatisfied with the results, so it was not released as is. This led a lot of fans to be angered at the label, thinking it was all their fault. Truth is, Fiona made the decision to redo the album. That one was released and, while not a huge commercial success, it was praised by many critics. I actually really like this album. It shows very well her influences, and it's a good listen. I think anyone who is a true fan of hers will be intrigued and entertained by this one.
Now we come to the new one, The Idler Wheel . . . Yes, three words and three dots again. I think her philosophy on album titles is "short, long, short, long". Just let her do what she wants. As I said, I just got this album and I have only listened to it all the way through once. I'm actually quite pleased with it. It's classic Fiona, exactly what you'd expect, but with a few surprises. Best thing, as usual for me, are the lyrics. I plan on really digging into this thing, but, for now, I can safely give it a very positive reaction.
So, in the span of 16 years, we have had four albums from Fiona Apple. I wish there were more, but I'd rather have quality than quantity. Actually, I'd rather have both, but whatever. I have heard that Fiona is not like a lot of writers, myself included, who constantly write. A lot of us do it like breathing. But she admits that she doesn't write just for the sake of writing. She doesn't say, "Well, I'm a songwriter. I better write a song". No, she writes when she has something worth writing. I love that about her. Better to write nothing than to write crap. She kind of reminds me of Daniel Day Lewis in this case. The way there are these massive spans of time between his movies, because he tends not to choose bad movies. He doesn't want to waste his time or ours, and neither does Miss Fiona.
Well, in closing, I am very happy that she is back. She has always been a great inspiration to me, and she's still on my list (my list being a list of people with whom I want to write. Nothing threatening there).
Love and full moons,
Becky the Writer
