Smoke twirls in long, slow trails from the ends of cigarettes. Ice clinks against glass and swirls around. All is dark except the black piano bathed in soft yellow and red lights.
At least that’s the scene one would imagine when thinking about Fiona Apple’s signature sultry voice. Now, I’m not so sure.
Apple’s latest effort, Extraordinary Machine, is supposed to be the refreshing rain after a six-year dry spell for the jazz/funk vocalist. Instead, most of the album has you wincing and wondering when the artist lost herself.
Some of the tracks are backed by impressive string accompaniments, but the power of the instruments outweighs Apple’s vocals so much it’s distracting. Her voice has lost its sexy, smoky sound and has been replaced by sub-wailing and rhyme speak on most of the tracks.
The 10th track, “Red Red Red,” is reminiscent of the “spooky sounds” tapes you would play at Halloween to scare off the neighborhood kids. Complete with a wolf howling in the background, the song has lyrics to match: “And I think if I didn’t have to/Kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill myself doing it/Maybe I might not glisten so much for you.”
Some of the tracks sound like rip-offs of other tunes. “Better Version of Me” is comparable to the theme from Life Aquatic with its simple keyboard tunes. The title track, “Extraordinary Machine,” at first sounds mysterious and intriguing with Apple’s poetry wrapped around a simple beat. But after a while, it sounds more like Bing Crosby and the Christmas song, “Baby, It’s Cold Outside.”
To give credit where it’s due, there are a few tracks that remind you of the old Fiona. The passionate vocals break through on “Window,” a lively, dirty jazz number with cool piano and hot horns. But “Please Please Please” is the only song on the album that truly brings out the Apple we remember from her first hit single, “Shadowboxer.”
This disappointing change may be attributed to something outside the 12-track creation.
According to Billboard.com, 11 tracks off Apple’s album were leaked on the Internet before many of the songs were finished. There were also rumors that Apple’s record label had stopped the project, completed in May 2003, because they didn’t hear a single, causing her to rewrite the album to fit mass-release standards. The Free Fiona Campaign was organized online by fans in protest.
The final Extraordinary Machine features nine reworked tracks with only two songs keeping their original sounds: the title track and “Waltz.” A new song, “Parting Gift,” was also added.
Whether it was musical politics or a distressed singer, the album’s new sound is a bit disappointing for those who are attached to her first two. You’re better off saving the cash and downloading the handful of tracks that are worthwhile.
