Fiona Apple.

Fiona Apple’s first album in seven years is being released next week and I feel compelled to write this.  
So I am.

I have no idea how I came to know of her...I think I stumbled across her Myspace (sigh...Myspace...) back in 2006, just as after Extraordinary Machine had been released. I’m not even sure if I listened to any of her songs posted up there upon first glance. Regardless, a couple of months or so after that I was being dropped home by Emily, a friend from work and she was playing Extraordinary Machine. I knew that because I recognised the album art. I mentioned her and she told me about her long hiatus between albums, her OCD and everything else she could squeeze into a 5 minute car ride. I was intruigued by her oddities and as an angst-ridden teenager who liked to think I had some of her own problems, she was a perfect role model.

So the love affair began. She seemed just as angry at the world around her as I was but she was turning that pain and spite into heartfelt, fantastic art. I flew her songs like some kind of like a musical barrier and stood behind it, protecting myself from all the shit-slingers and my own crippling fear and doubt. High school was fun, hey?

Though not as frequently, I still often listen to Fiona’s music. She’s like an old friend I can go back to for advice or strength. I find something new in her cryptic lyrics and complex melodies upon every listen. She has always been brutally honest about the dark cracks of her past and present in interviews and her honestly flows into her songwriting. This, along with her undeniable musical talent has earned her an army of dedicated, loving fans. She stands alone in the quizzical world of popular music, proving that an artist shouldn't churn out a shitty, uninspired album every year just to keep a fan base. You have to fucking feel it.  

The last thing I remember seeing of her:

I haven’t seen anything from her since then. She looked healthy there too. After seeing that interview I would’ve been content if she’d never written another album because (as she said) it’d mean she was happy and off having fun. With her new album release, I suppose happiness is not the case.

I’m not going into the grief she’s been put through by her label (google “Free Fiona” and read her recent NY Times article HERE) or anything else otherwise this post will actually go on forever.  I just wanted to say good and bad, her music opened me up to a whole new world and moulded me into who I am. I am forever grateful to her.  

After six years of being a fan, this is the first of her albums that I'm actually witnessing the release of. It is a strange, exciting feeling. 

So here’s the new stuff.