Fetch the Bolt Cutters

by Fiona Apple

Overview

About a minute into "I Want You to Love Me," the opening cut on her fifth album Fetch the Bolt Cutters, Fiona Apple holds a note a few seconds longer than you'd expect, then a few seconds more. It's the first time Apple veers away from the expected course on Fetch the Bolt Cutters and it's hardly the last, but it's telling that the shift occurs within a song, not in a transition between tracks. Apple spent the years after the 2012 release of The Idler Wheel sculpting the songs and sounds of Fetch the Bolt Cutters, working at her home studio with a band featuring drummer Amy Aileen Wood, bassist Sebastian Steinberg, and multi-instrumentalist David Garza, using their interactions and interplay as a suggestion of where the finished track should head. Everything on Fetch the Bolt Cutters seems restless: overdubbed harmonies don't quite jibe, rhythms are cluttered, narratives turn inside out, and Apple treats her own voice as a rubber instrument, stretching it beyond comfort. As pure sound, it's exhilarating. It's rare to listen to a pop album and have no idea what comes next, and Fetch the Bolt Cutters delivers surprises that delight and bruise at a rapid pace. The density is dizzying but melodies and certain lyrics make an immediate impression, such as the jolting denouement of "For Her." Apple wrote "For Her" in the wake of the contentious Brett Kavanaugh hearings and while its fury is palpable and by no means an anomaly on Fetch the Bolt Cutters, the album isn't defined by anger. Rage sits alongside heartache and humor, the shifts in mood occurring with a dramatic flair and a disarming playfulness. The unpredictable nature feels complex and profoundly human, resulting in an album that's nourishing and joyfully cathartic. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Product Details

Release Date:	07/17/2020
Label:	Epic
UPC:	0194397740318
Rank:	3267

Tracks

Disc 1

1. I Want You To Love Me
2. Shameika
3. Fetch The Bolt Cutters
4. Under The Table
5. Relay
6. Rack of His
7. Newspaper

Disc 2

8. Ladies
9. Heavy Balloon
10. Cosmonauts
11. For Her
12. Drumset
13. On I Go

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Fiona Apple   Primary Artist,Bells,Casio,Drums,Noise,Piano,Vocals,Timpani,Clapping,Keyboards,Mellotron,Wurlitzer,Percussion,Handclapping,Drums (Electric),Electronic Drums,Metal Percussion,Vocals (Background)
David Garza   Noise,Organ,Piano,Guitar,Clapping,Mellotron,Wurlitzer,Percussion,Vibraphone,Handclapping,Electronic Vibes,Guitar (Electric),Vocals (Background)
John Would   Organ,Piano,Wurlitzer,Vibraphone,Electronic Vibes
Sebastian Steinberg   Bass,Harp,Drums,Noise,Guitar,Autoharp,Clapping,Sampling,Stomping,Breathing,Guitarron,Wurlitzer,Percussion,Handclapping,Slide Guitar,Electric Autoharp,Vocals (Background),Guitar (12 String Acoustic)
Maude Maggart   Vocals (Background)
Bobb Bruno   Special Effects
Spencer Maggart   Stomping
Amy Aileen Wood   Drums,Loops,Noise,Guitar,Clapping,Percussion,Handclapping
Cara Delevingne   Drums,Vocals (Background)
Winifred Ada Lucky   Vocals (Background)

Technical Credits

Tchad Blake   Mixing
Bob Ludwig   Engineer,Mastering
Fiona Apple   Composer,Engineer,Lyricist,Producer,Vocal Ad-Libs
David Garza   Composer,Producer
John Would   Mixing,Engineer
Sebastian Steinberg   Composer,Engineer,Producer
Dave Way   Mixing,Engineer
Bobb Bruno   Effects
Amy Aileen Wood   Engineer,Producer