Fiona Apple: The Idler Wheel is Wiser Than the Driver of the Screw and Whipping Cords Will Serve You More than Ropes Will Ever Do Review

Album: The Idler Wheel...
Artist: Fiona Apple
Genre: Avant-garde Piano Singer-Songwriter


9.4/10




     In the trailer for Katy Perry’s new movie, Katy confidently thanks her audience “for believing in my weirdness”.  This is the biggest bullshit statement ever.  Why am I bringing this up?  Because I just recently listened to an actual weird (unique’s a better term) female singer-songwriter, not the one that churns out generic pop tunes like Kraft churns out cheese, but the one whose uniqueness comes through the music, not through a cupcake bra.  Fiona Apple has released an album that is as accessible as it is odd, as polished as it is raw, and it’s as much a triumph as a tragedy.

     The Idler Wheel is Wiser Than the Driver of the Screw and Whipping Cords Will Serve You More than Ropes Will Ever Do’s album name is a journey in itself, and it embodies a main theme of the record, that pain drives and shapes behavior, memories, and even personalities.  Fiona Apple delivers a group of songs that build off of a very constricted instrument set.  There’s just an upright bass, percussion, and of course, piano.  The instruments are recorded with a very airy quality, and it’s very apparent that these were recorded live and with minimal mixing.  It’s raw and almost barren, but not in a bad way.  On the lead single “Every Single Night” Fiona howls along with a bare bones piano part coupled with the sound of air rushing and swirling, swelling along with the accents and fluctuations of the song.  “Left Alone” opens up with a pounding drum intro, transitioning into a bluesy piano line.  “Periphery” ends with the repeated sound of something ripping.  “Jonathan” is incredibly creepy, with a minor melodic piano elevated by what sounds like a shipyard.  Some stark images are created just with the minimal instrumentation.

     Fiona’s lyrics are showcased strongly thanks to subdued instrumentation.  Fiona sings, howls, and screams through each of these songs.  Her voice is a roller coaster of emotion, and the clarity of her vocals allows the listener to easily decipher and relate to the lyrics.  On “Daredevil” Apple laments on her extreme nature: “I guess I must just be a daredevil/I don't feel anything until I smash it up/I'm caught on the cold, caught on the hot/Not so with the warmer lot.”  “Jonathan” is a haunting ballad about Fiona Apple’s struggles with her love for her ex-boyfriend: “Jonathan, anything/And anyone that you have done/Has gotta be alright with me/If she's part of/The reason you are how you are/She's alright with me”.  “Periphery” allows Fiona to vent against the mainstream music industry and her fall out of the spotlight in the late 90’s using the medium of a breakup song: Go to the periphery/Have them celebrate your name/Have them forge you a pedigree and then you'll be/Left to run the races lame.”  The most powerful lyric, however comes from the angriest song on the album, ‘Regret”.  In the chorus Fiona brutally and without filter screams “I ran out of white dove feathers/To soak up the hot piss that comes through your mouth/Every time you address me”.  Her lyrics are clear cut, but they are delivered with poise.  The album is a journey through the mind of Fiona.  It’s a monologue that addresses the very core of how emotion drives us.

     Fiona has delivered an incredibly sophisticated album from each direction.  Each lyric is carefully executed, and the album rises and swells, slows and speeds to match the emotion of the peace.  An incredibly personal and moving piece of work, The Idler Wheel…’s textures and passion solidify it as one of the best albums so far this year.  Ending with a round of Fiona overdubbing herself over and over again to create a near wall-of-sound, The Idler Wheel concludes how it begins, on a journey.  9.4 Idler Wheels out of 10.


FAVE TRACKS: Every Single Night, Daredevil, Valentine, Left Alone, Periphery, Regret, Hot Knife