Fiona

Quite often we come across an artist who appeals to us before we've even heard any of their music and so it was that many, many years ago, whilst perusing a Guinness Book of World Records, we decided that we liked Fiona Apple just because she was responsible for the longest album title of all time.

It was at least a decade before we heard any of her music, but in 2007 a friend introduced us to what was, at the time, her most recent album: Extraordinary Machine. We were intrigued but nothing we heard set our heart on fire or encouraged us to go running out into the streets to tell passersby the good news.

Fastforward to 2010 and a good root around her back catalogue revealed to us that, in fact, there is plenty of Music by Fiona that makes us twirl depressedly and wistfully through the mountains (!?) of South East London, yearning and stretching. And plenty that makes us stomp and writhe and do a sassy empowered dance about our bedrooms.

Which brings us to her new album: The Idler Wheel Is Wiser Than the Driver of the Screw and Whipping Cords Will Serve You More Than Ropes Will Ever Do.

We're certain that as our love for and appreciation of the album deepens and grows, we'll write a more glowing extended report, and no doubt it'll feature extensively in our end of year roundup, but for now, let us tell you that: this is one of - if not the - best albums released so far in 2012. Fiona has crafted her own unique and fully realised sound world and each song is lithe, angry, breathing, delicate and wilfully real. The clatters and rumbles of the simple, frenetic, paired back percussion, the effortless poetry of her complex yet incisive lyrics, the majesty of her masterful grasp of melody...

Let's hope we're not getting carried away in this unbearable humid heat. But as far as we're concerned: this is a really special album and you should buy it, like, now.

Grosstastic

Fiona Apple's fabulous, beautiful, bewildering, sexual, revolting, violent, gentle, beguiling new video is up.

Do we think it means something or do we think she just got lost in a tumblr spiral of procrastination and ended up watching 2 Girls, 1 Octopus?

Topnotch.

Fiona Apple has a new album coming out soon and as such she is releasing a song to entice the general public. This is it. Tis called "Every Single Night" and it's brilliant. A sort of music box-assisted quasi-lullaby with a weirdly raucous chorusy bit that comes out of nowhere. Apple's voice and lyrics are front and centre here, with the sparse instrumentation a showcase for them:

Every single night
I endure the flight
Of little wings of white-flamed
Butterflies in my brain
These ideas of mine
Percolate the mind
Trickle down the spine
Swarm the belly, swelling to a blaze
That's when the pain comes in
Like a second skeleton
Trying to fit beneath the skin
I can't fit the feelings in
Every single night's alright with my brain

Isn't that perfect? PERFECT? Pure poetry. Not entirely sure what it all means, for us to eke meanint out... well... that would involve close textual analysis (*whips out pencil, starts underlining things and writing BATHOS and LITOTES like it's A Level Eng Lit all over again*).

Anyway. Fiona also has a new album out but the title of it alone would fill up seven webpages of text so we'll save it for a different post. In the meantime, enjoy "Every Single Night" below: