Fiona Apple Idler Wheel

After a seven year absence from the music spotlight, Fiona Apple returns with a collection of all-new songs to engage listeners with all the emotions Apple knows so well. With her new album, Fiona takes on subjects of failed relationships (most notably involving her former beau, writer Jonathan Ames) and her feelings of self-doubt. Listeners coming from her previous album Extraordinary Machine might be in for a bit of a tough transitional period. While Extraordinary Machine did have songs of varying tempos, The Idler Wheel Is Wiser Than the Driver of the Screw and Whipping Cords Will Serve You More Than Ropes Will Ever Do, otherwise known as Idler Wheel,consists mostly of slower, moodier tracks.

Honestly, I had a difficult time getting into this album. It’s not exactly one that can just be jumped into. Having said that, there are quite a few exceptional tracks. Some of my favorites include “Werewolf,” “Periphery,” and “Daredevil,” as well as “Anything We Want,” which stands out as one of the only happy tracks on the album. Mostly the focus of the album is on Fiona’s difficulty in maintaining and recovering from the difficulties of a relationship, and so having a track like “Anything We Want” is a nice (and necessary) break from songs with lines like “I ran out of white dove feathers to soak up the hot piss that comes from your mouth.” Not exactly family sing-along material.

Still, even though my first couple of listens left me questioning my decision to purchase the album, the more time I invested in it the deeper it got, and the more rewarding the experience became. Though the songs tackle some difficult and dark viewpoints, the artful approach (very stripped down, usually with just percussion, piano, and Fiona’s raw vocals) and unabashedly naked material make this one of the most confessional albums I may have ever heard.

Listeners won’t quite find the catchy hooks of popular music today, or the driving, anthemic sound of rock and roll. It’s hard, I think, to classify The Idler Wheel as pop music. In fact, it might be difficult to classify it as any one type or genre specifically. Instead, The Idler Wheel makes its stand somewhere in the gray space between genres, roiling with pressure, writhing with emotion, sometimes screaming its songs as it demands your full attention. It’s a brilliant album, and one that fans of deeper music will probably enjoy if they give it enough of a chance to seep in.

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