The Idler Wheel..., Fiona Apple, Sony, R499
The Idler Wheel Is Wiser Than the  Driver of the Screw and Whipping  Cords Will Serve You More Than  Ropes Will Ever Do follows  several years of relative silence.  Fiona Apple’s last album  arrived in 2005. While it’s not  a conspicuously radical work,  neither is it infused with the sort  of attention-getting tactics that  typically attend comebacks. It  is an emotional expulsion sung  at times through gritted teeth  or a raspy throat. It is easily  Apple’s most raw and unadorned  record, which is not to say it  lacks pop smarts or polish. 

Quirky percussion and pitterpatter  rhythms heighten the  largely piano-driven “Daredevil,”  “Anything We Want” and  “Periphery,” three highlights  that spin off from the disc’s  intimate, chamber-jazz centre,  though pop, per se, does not  seem to be the goal. 

With its expressive chords,  free-for-all vocal cadences  and scattered sonic surprises,  this is the sort of record  someone makes for themselves,  free from the constraints  of fashion and commercial  expectations, much as her loyal  major label may wish otherwise.  Ironically, it takes strength  and confidence to sound this  vulnerable.   

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