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Why Fiona Apple May Finally Be Rejoining Us

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According to Twitter and Perez Hilton, Epic chair L.A. Reid confirmed late Saturday night/early Sunday morning that, after years of scattered appearances, speculations, and a riot, Fiona Apple is back — almost.

Speculation about the singer’s next album has been swirling for nearly seven years, since the controversial release of her 2005 record, Extraordinary Machine. Complications seem to plague the singer (see: her 1997 meltdown, the 1998 Rolling Stone interview in which she confesses to having been a victim of child abuse, the aforementioned riot), so an overlong interim between albums didn’t seem too out of left field for her, but whispers have no doubt been popping up every once in awhile throughout, keeping us both hopeful and totally in the dark.

Finally, last year, we gained a little clarity: Apple confessed onstage at one of longtime collaborator/producer Jon Brion’s Los Angeles shows that her songs “have been done for a fucking year”— to which Brion added, “Not her fault!”

Nevertheless, it’s still tough to say who’s fault the wait has been, exactly. Since Machine, Apple has made quite a few public appearances, including occasional guest performances with Brion, collaborations with Andrew Bird and Margaret Cho, and Buddy Holly covers, indicating that she’s far from done with us. But sources at Sony Music, until recently, had had no management contacts on record for the singer, and furthermore, had been under the impression that she was no longer even associated with the label.

Fiona’s clearly been dissatisfied with Reid and crew’s handling of her material, so was L.A.’s “welcome back” message more of a “welcome back to Epic!” peace offering than a “welcome back to music”? And if he’s tweeting the truth, that Apple’s album will be one of a handful to come from his label in the coming weeks, how long before Epic shows us the receipts?