Fiona Apple: The Idler Wheel…

Fiona Apple – The Idler Wheel…

This is what happens when an artist with limitless talent creates art on her own terms. No deadlines, no media blitz and no meticulous or revolutionary studio wizardry are found on The Idler Wheel… This is Fiona Apple, a singer-songwriter who prefers only to release music when it is absolutely inspired. Maybe that is why her newest album is able to connect almost immediately to its audience. He or she knows that each lyric and each vocal delivery is not forced or manipulated, but comes from an authentic emotion that is boiling over in Apple and needs to be let loose. This is why Apple has no need for costumes, bombastic live performances, outrageous quotes or some jarring stylistic change from one album to another. No gimmicks are needed when the music can speak for itself, and speak for itself The Idler Wheel… does.

The first song (and first single) “Every Single Night” aptly explains the psyche of Apple, and could act as an official ode to the tortured artist. In fact, much of the lyrical subject matter that pervades the record deals with internal conflict. Whether she is claiming that she needs a chaperone to guard against herself in “Daredevil” or that she enabled herself to get mistreated in “Werewolf,” it is abundantly clear that Apple takes as much issue with herself as with others. It is this constant acknowledgment of her own imperfection that gives these songs a power and makes her angst and bitterness at some of the antagonists in Idler Wheel… all the more real and relatable. Ultimately, Fiona Apple’s latest triumph is a testament to what happens when palpable, inspired emotion is conveyed with superior lyrical dexterity and vocal prowess. This album will most certainly be around in those year-end lists in December, possibly at the top.

The Idler Wheel… was released on June 19th, 2012