Here is the 23-word title to Fiona Apple’s new album: “The Idler Wheel is wiser than the Driver of the Screw, and Whipping Cords will serve you more than Ropes will ever do.”
It doesn’t hold a candle to 1999’s “When the Pawn’s” full title, an eight-line poem:
When the pawn hits the conflicts he thinks like a king
What he knows throws the blows when he goes to the fight
And he’ll win the whole thing ‘fore he enters the ring
There’s no body to batter when your mind is your might
So when you go solo, you hold your own hand
And remember that depth is the greatest of heights
And if you know where you stand, then you know where to land
And if you fall it won’t matter, cause you’ll know that you’re right
Apple, Epic and just about everyone else knows this new ‘un will get shaken down to “Idler Wheel” for shorthand, but — bless her heart — Fiona Apple just doesn’t give a damn. Play on, long-player.
Pitchfork says “Idler Wheel” has a tentative late-June arrival. Apple’s set to hit the stage at South By Southwest next week; all her other tour dates besides the Governor’s Ball have sold out.
Here are Fiona Apple’s current tour dates:
3/15 – Austin, TX @ Central Presbyterian Church (SXSW)
3/19 – Chicago, IL @ Lincoln Hall
3/21 – Washington, DC @ Sixth and I
3/23 – Brooklyn, NY @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
3/24 – Atlantic City, NJ @ Music Box
3/26 – New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom
3/27 – Boston, MA @ Royale
6/24 – New York, NY @ Governors Ball Music Festival