Fiona Apple fans in the Washington, D.C., area have truly lucked out. The “Criminal” singer, who hasn’t toured in five years, is on a seven-stop concert swing that includes the nation’s capital. Her local performance comes just after she performed a three-song set of new music at the just-ended SXSW musical festival in Austin, Texas.
“Times and perhaps tragedies have taken their toll, but Apple made clear the difference between nostalgia and currency is rawness and realness,” wrote Joshua Ostroff in a review of the performance for Spinner. “She has a timeless voice, so indelible it hardly felt like she’d been away, and so this felt more like a refrain rather than a comeback.”
| Onstage |
| Fiona Apple |
| When: 9 p.m. Wednesday |
| Where: Sixth & I Historic Synagogue, 600 I St. NW |
| Info: $45; ticketmaster.com; 202-397-SEAT |
Although comeback is truly the right word when you consider that Apple hasn’t released an album in seven years. News reports of her upcoming fourth studio album — titled “The Idler Wheel is wiser than the Driver of the Screw, and Whipping Cords will serve you more than Ropes will ever do” — noted the release will be made in late June.
Apple, who is not giving interviews, hasn’t explained the choice of the title, which reportedly comes from a poem.
Her low profile, even in the lead-up to an important album release, is not unusual for Apple. Yes, she was a late 1990s “overnight sensation,” but she’s never been just another pop star. In fact, Apple has been compared to Alanis Morissette, Laura Nyro and other emotionally rich vocalists.
Poet Maya Angelou was the prime inspiration for Apple’s music. Apple herself has written poetry since age 11, according to Rolling Stone.
Perhaps it’s that love of such multifaceted poetry that caused Apple to rebel against the music establishment. Her most public statement was at the 1997 MTV Video Awards when she accepted the Best New Artist in a Video award with a speech that derided what Rolling Stone described as “the star-making machinery of show biz and its deleterious effects on adolescents.”
Although she received backlash for her harsh words, her discussion of her own rape at age 12 and her sexy video for “Criminal,” her music remained in demand and critically acclaimed.
Although the songs on Apple’s upcoming album are, as yet, unannounced, one can’t help but believe that her artistry has only deepened.
