Fiona Apple’s “rant” on the MTV Video Music Awards a couple of
\nyears ago was one of the most laughable, sorry and just plain
\nridiculous cases of overreaction to an artist who speaks their
\nmind. I mean, come on, what really did she say when she was at the
\npodium? Value individuality, don’t pay too much attention to beauty
\nstandards that you couldn’t possibly live up to, don’t let artists
\ndictate your value system.<\/p>\n
Yup, I could see where people thought she was
\nwaaaay<\/i> out of line. All of those things she said were very
\ncontroversial. Come on folks, it’s not like she tore the picture of
\nthe pope up on the podium. But somehow, at that instant, she was
\ncast as an outsider. Just get that second album out of the way, get
\nthat buried and Apple will go the way of the Crash Test
\nDummies.<\/p>\n
Actually, that senario would work if she released a weak album.
\nBut just to piss off her naysayers, Apple released an album that
\nalmost eclipses her very good
\nTidal<\/i> album.
\nWhen The Pawn…<\/i> finds Apple going back to the artists she
\ncan most identify with.<\/p>\n
Be it contemporaries like Ani Difranco or gritty, lonely jazz
\nsingers of the ’20s and ’30s,
\nWhen The Pawn…<\/i> ignores any set pattern. Like any good,
\nself-revealing album, you get the indication that Apple used
\ncertain instrumentation because they had to be played, not because
\nthey would sound good on top 40 radio.<\/p>\n
“On The Bound” and “To Your Love” kick off the album with a
\nwarm, textured feel of a well-crafted jazz release. The low-end
\nnotes on the piano and Apple’s deep voice pack such a luster kick
\nthat the album feels most at home in your pad with a couple of
\ncandles flickering.<\/p>\n
Don’t expect to see Apple perched on a baby grand ala Michelle
\nPfeiffer in
\nThe Fabulous Baker Boys<\/i>, however. In “To Your Love,” Apple
\nveers dangerously close to sounding like she’s listened to a bit
\ntoo much PJ Harvey. But “Limp” kicks Apple right back her rock
\ngroove.<\/p>\n
Midway through the album, Apple does not let up. “Paper Bag” and
\nthe trippy “Mistake” show that her vision is still very much in the
\n’90s. And “Fast As You Can” has a great driving beat to it, thanks
\npartially to some frantic guitar picking.<\/p>\n
“Get Gone” and “I Know” close the album, both songs dealing with
\nromantic longing and lonliness. For someone who hasn’t even turned
\n25 yet, Apple sounds like she’s gone through enough bad
\nrelationships and faded friendships to last up until someone’s
\nfirst mid-life crisis.<\/p>\n
But
\nWhen The Pawn…<\/i> is definitely not a “feel sorry for me”
\nalbum. Throughout the album, Apple points the finger at herself
\njust as much as she does for anyone that has smitten her. And
\ncredit must go to producer Jon Brion. For all of Apple’s bemoaning,
\nthe music keeps us riveted.<\/p>\n
\nWhen The Pawn…<\/i> is Apple’s version of
\nSheryl Crow<\/i>. Both artists were in a position where people
\nwere ready to dump both of them in the recycled bins and hop onto
\nthe next artist who were a bit friendlier to the ears. But both
\nreleased an album that was both very personal and very good
\nmusicially. Sorry folks, Apple is here for a while. And looking at
\nthe Top 10 for the past few months, I couldn’t be more happy that
\nshe’s here.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":25244,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"tags":[],"artist":[6026],"rating":[5613],"class_list":["post-36449","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-fiona-apple","rating-rating-a-minus"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/36449","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36449"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/36449\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25244"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36449"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36449"},{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=36449"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=36449"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}