Fiona Apple - Fetch the Bolt Cutters (first masterpiece of the 2020s!)

[LemonMelon]

First album in almost 8 years.

It's streaming now.

Go listen and come back.

We have to talk about it. It's so good.

 

[LemonMelon]

First new Pitchfork 10 since My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy a decade ago:

https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/fiona-apple-fetch-the-bolt-cutters/

Fuck them but that is pretty cool.

 

[beegee]

I've been listening all day.

 

[LemonMelon]

I've been listening all day.

Nice to see you around. Hope you're holding up alright in these dogshit times. You were one of the first Fiona fans I ever spoke to and I'm glad to see you back for what has become the musical equivalent of a solar eclipse.

 

[lazarus]

I'm confused. This is streaming but I can't buy it?

WTF?

 

[LemonMelon]

I'm confused. This is streaming but I can't buy it?

WTF?

You can pre-order the vinyl and that comes with a download:

https://www.fionaapplestore.com/product/Y4FA02COMBO/fetch-the-bolt-cutters-2lp-digital-download

But yeah, this album was kind of a quarantine present in the sense that her label didn't want it to come out until October, so this release has been wonky.

 

[lazarus]

Well, guess I'm torrenting it then.

I tried.

 

[gump]

Postpone DI XI!

(Had one listen through - shit this is good).

 

[beegee]

Nice to see you around. Hope you're holding up alright in these dogshit times. You were one of the first Fiona fans I ever spoke to and I'm glad to see you back for what has become the musical equivalent of a solar eclipse.

I'm doing well, thanks!

The link you posted to buy merch - has anyone heard of or used that company? It feels odd that she's never had a merch store before and her albums have always been difficult to get on vinyl. Some comments on the company's twitter feed aren't very promising, either.

 

[iron yuppie]

The second half of this is really compelling and inventive songcraft.

That said, the Pitchfork review is really over the top IMO, but also pretty of-the-moment in its view that every piece of art is either blindingly transcendent or embarrassingly irrelevant. That's not a critique of the album, just my general fatigue with internet culture where everything is painted in stark dualities.

 

[Jerry Dunk]

The percussion on this album is pretty wild. That's my review after one listen.

 

[GirlsAloudFan]

I like the songs with dogs barking in them.

No seriously, this is excellent. Her lyrics are so sharp, and I've always enjoyed the sort of off-kilter rhythm of her vocal delivery.

 

[lazarus]

It's fantastic and to me easily better than The Idler Wheel, which often became a slog for me in the middle. Having said that, I prefer that album's opening Every Single Night, as well as its last two tracks Everything We Want and Hot Knife. Fetch The Bolt Cutters is noticeably more consistent and isn't as "ballad" heavy, a much more pleasurable listen even when it's deadly serious.

It's also the perfect album for quarantine; it seems like it was written and recorded by people who have been staring at the walls too long, and I don't mean that in a negative way. Reflection, introspection, catharis, the need to make things with available items and within constraints that wind up becoming liberating.

She's a prophet.

I don't think any artist comes within sniffing of this album for the rest of the year.

 

[namkcuR]

This didn't do all that much for me. I remember Laz once saying he respected Idler Wheel more than he enjoyed it, and I agreed with him, and that's kind of how I feel about this record too upon first listen. It's certainly interesting lyrically and in terms of rhythm and the sounds she's making, there's a lot going on, and I would never deny Fiona's talent, but it just didn't grab me save for a few spots.

My favorite Fiona records remain Tidal and Extraordinary Machine.

 

[LemonMelon]

Idler Wheel is one of my favorite albums of all time and Bolt Cutters hijacks its austere sound palette and twists it into something vicious and instrumentally potent. I still prefer Idler Wheel but it wouldn't surprise me if this ended up still being my AOTY at year's end because it's a mile ahead of everything else right now.

 

[LemonMelon]

Found a link to the digital copy: https://www.fionaapplestore.com/product/Y4DDFA01/fetch-the-bolt-cutters-digital-download

 

[gump]

Cosmonauts on repeat forever.

 

[joyfulgirl]

It's brilliant.

 

[iron yuppie]

Special vinyl edition:
https://www.vinylmeplease.com/products/fiona-apple-fetch-the-bolt-cutters?variant=32169614245978

 

[gump]

Just when I bought the regular ones through her website. Oh well.

 

[cobl04]

Holy shit. I'm tempted to buy, even though I've not listened to it yet nor have I ever been into her music.

 

[lazarus]

Friggin'.

 

[iron yuppie]

https://www.instagram.com/p/B_2iKffp8y_/

 

[cobl04]

I've never in my life come across a subscription service that is as good as VMP. Costs me nearly $700 AUD a year just for the Records of the Month, not including the extra records I buy (like FTBC), but it's worth every cent. So good.

 

[iron yuppie]

Yeah VMP is great. Their records of the month are almost always off-kilter and a lot of them have been discoveries for me. Their magenta reissue of Miles' Sorcerer last year is one of my very favorite LPs.

 

[gump]

Queen.

 

[LemonMelon]

Fetch the bolt cutters, I've been in here too long

 

[gump]

VMP members: The Idler Wheel... is currently available for purchase on the website. Not an easy one to find on vinyl.

https://www.vinylmeplease.com/products/the-idler-wheel?variant=31242546085978

 

[cobl04]

I'm very grumpy at VMP.

 

[gump]

I'm very grumpy at VMP.

Same here. I’m leaving after my current 3-month subscription ends. The price hike was ridiculous.