Fiona Apple has finally released her long-awaited fifth record, Fetch the Bolt Cutters, today (April 17). And it looks like this is a special one for her — not just because it’s a brand new release but also because of how it was a form of therapy.
“Making this album has really helped me get through stuff, and I don’t know if I can say that about my other albums,” Apple told Vulture.
Working out of her Venice Beach home during most of the album’s creation, Apple revealed that she realized that it was a big learning process for her “What’s funny is that so much of the stuff that I did on the record is stuff that I can’t actually do,” she said.
She later added, “A lot of it is just making a bunch of mistakes and liking a lot of them.”
Apple opened up about being OK in being single but also dropped that she was had a “very brief” marriage to French photographer Lionel Deluy and how she’s been able to stay friends with her exes. Despite seeming to have good male relations, the interview also explores her previous friendships, especially during middle school, and how the album did help suss that out.
“I made the album, and it helped me,” she said. “I’m over the hump of a lot of the things I was dealing with on the album. Which means it was successful, you know? Because really, the first reason to do any of this is to help myself to live. I don’t mean with money, although that’s necessary. But to help myself get through things, and to help myself express myself so that I don’t get so confused inside.”
Apple also talked about disgraced comedian Louis C.K., who she dated as well, and gave insight to his thinking about his misconduct.
“I know he’s got such a great brain and he understands why he did that shit,” she said. “I feel robbed that he’s not giving us what he thinks about that. And the fact that he’s complaining about the money he lost and that tired joke of, ‘Hey, how’s everybody’s 2020? Did everybody have a great year?’ That was a bad joke when it was done the first time, but it’s not even a joke.”
She added: “The one thing I will say about that situation is that the women he harassed continue to be harassed by his little bros. By the little Louis bros. Fuck you, Louis bros. And fuck him for not even just acknowledging that. And for the record, he didn’t apologize.”
The piece delves into specific tracks, deciding to stay sober and finding a more comforting mental space the eventually inspired the overall theme of the new album.
“So I guess the message in the whole record is just: Fetch the fucking bolt cutters and get yourself out of the situation you’re in, whatever it is that you don’t like. Even if you can’t do it physically,” she said.
You can read the entire interview at Vulture here.
