“Shameikah said I had potential”, croons Fiona Apple in ‘Shameikah’, a song where she describes how she hasn’t forget what the entitled person told her when she was being bullied in school. Listening to Apple’s discography, from 1996’s Tidal to the The Idler Wheel… in 2012, and now Fetch The Bolt Cutters certainly confirms that Shameikah was right. The song ‘Shameikah’ itself is a layered and percussive affair, a sound that broadly describes the record, which is something special.

Starting with opener ‘I Want You To Love Me’, a piano-driven amorphous ballad that expresses the need for love affectingly. The track itself feels like a continuation of The Idler Wheel… yet is a perfect introduction to Fetch The Bolt Cutters. In the middle of the bridge she claims: “And I want you to use it, blast the music/Bang it, bite it, bruise it”, the last three phrases framed by stacatto piano chords and drums. The song is the perfect threshold for what lies within this album.

After that comes the aforementioned ‘Shameikah’, an ode to a person Apple doesn’t remember fondly, that actually treated her wrong, but left a mark in her mind she’s carried all this time. The album’s recording took quite a long time and the songs, which changed and evolved through the years, are a lively reflection of the feelings that Fiona has been challenged by throughout her life or, in some cases, the ones she came to know after something meaningful happened to her.

Like a pretentious dinner where she heard something offensive she couldn’t tell off in that moment in ‘Under The Table’, one of my favorite songs of the record. She starts the song with the assured remark: “I would beg to disagree but begging disagrees with me”, one of the most compelling turns of phrase she showcases in the album. She is carried by an excellent steady rhythm, which is only broken in a bridge where a cascade of voices repeat the opening sentence. When she arrives to the chorus she calmly declares: “Kick me under the table all you want/I won’t shut up”. A statement that carries an ulterior significance in a post-#MeToo world.

Fetch The Bolt Cutters is beaming with life and it cannot hide its cutting immediacy. This is not just evident in the production, (credited to Apple and the three musicians that contributed to the record: Amy Aileen Wood, Sebastian Steinberg and David Garza) but also in the fact that the percussions, the thundering piano chords, or the piercing vocal delivery are, in a broad sense, the channeled anger or sadness or lust that is pushing to get out from Apple’s body any way it can.

There’s the energic repeating bridge of ‘Cosmonauts’; there’s also the way she forces her voice in the chorus of highlight ‘Heavy Balloon’ to sing: “I’ve been sucking it in so long, that I’m bursting at the seams”, a particular statement that succintly describes many songs in the album; and specially the way she coldly points out in ‘For Her’: “Good morning, good morning, you raped me in the same bed your child was born in!”. A song that has at least 3 rhythm changes and presents a wide array of vocals from beautiful harmonies (all Fiona) to an angelical delivery at the coda. The record presents several enthralling moments like these ones, surrounded by sounds so particular, that they are almost impossible to forget.

A month ago, Fiona Apple was the subject of an extensive profile for The New Yorker, where she discusses her life during the process of making this album, and among many things, her most recent break-ups, her isolation and the fact she’s quit drinking. Reading this before listening album, helps painting the picture that Fetch The Bolt Cutters is an art piece that goes inward and bursts-out with everything it encounters. Moreover, specially in this time, the subject of isolation has a haunting gravity to it. And yet, the album’s welcomed collaboration, serves as a counterweight of that. Aside from the three musicians that form ‘the band’, there’s credits for cabaret singer Maude Maggart, musician John Would and a backing vocal from model/actress Cara Delevingne in the title song; a track in which 4 dogs are credited.

From beginning to end, Fetch The Bolt Cutters is an astounding, challenging and ultimately rewarding listening experience. A record that cements Fiona Apple’s unparalleled artistry and extends her output way beyond any given genre limitations. The sonic rawness and the choice of using her own house as a studio (and instrument) serve as a tapestry for her own thoughts and feelings, something she’s never inclined to hide but that reach several highs throughout this album. Approaching it without at least some knowledge of her back catalogue can be hard at first, keeping in mind that the most crucial aspect of this record is its passion. But try to meet it in its own terms and, at least, you could (and probably will) be captivated, because it absolutely has potential.