Track of the Moment

Fiona Apple’s ‘Single Thing’

April 23, 2012 4 Comments

With a release date set for her new 23-word titled album (June 19) and a 28-city tour commencing on the same date in Ithaca, New York, the long-awaited return of Fiona Apple is actually happening.

Today our favorite idiosyncratic chanteuse posted a stream of “Every Single Thing,” the first single from The Idler Wheel Is Wiser Than The Driver Of The Screw And Whipping Cords Will Serve You More Than Ropes Will Ever Do. This initial bite of Apple’s first studio album in seven years features a mouthful of lyrics and the sparest of instrumentation, though the song does threaten to break out into a full-throated Florence + The Machine tribalfest a few times. But it doesn’t. Still as willful as ever, Apple isn’t aiming for airplay with her anti-melody.

Imagine if “Every Single Thing” was instead an ironic screed from Apple about the pop music machine, a cunning, cutting takedown of Dr. Luke, David Guetta, Calvin Harris, et al., but accompanied by a sing-along chorus. Now that would have been extraordinary.

Still, FIONA APPLE IS BACK. Best not scare her off, lest she decides to call the whole thing off and makes us endure another long wait.

The Idler Wheel Is Wiser Than The Driver Of The Screw And Whipping Cords Will Serve You More Than Ropes Will Ever Do is out on 6/19 via Epic Records.