Get unlimited access to everything VICE has to offer.

Turn off all ads on VICE.com

Exclusive New VICE Documentaries

Member Exclusive Features & Columns

Turn off all ads on VICE.com

Exclusive New VICE Documentaries

Member Exclusive Features & Columns

Turn off all ads on VICE.com

Exclusive New VICE Documentaries

Member Exclusive Features & Columns

4 Magazines Delivered to Your Door

Six Years Ago, Fiona Apple Released DIY Grammy-Winning Album Featuring a Dead Dog’s Bones As an Instrument

The slow, unpredictable process of ‘Fetch the Bolt Cutters’ resulted in a record made under Fiona Apple’s complete creative control.

Share on X (Opens in new window)X

Share on Facebook (Opens in new window)Facebook

Share using Native toolsShareCopied to clipboard

On April 17, 2020, Fiona Apple released Fetch the Bolt Cutters, her first album since The Idler Wheel… in 2012. This was a return to form for Apple; her emotionally raw vocals and often distressingly vulnerable songwriting earned adoration from fans but ridicule in the press. Even decades removed from her unstable rocket to fame as a teenager, the weight of public perception hadn’t lessened.

Throughout the recording process, which was unpredictable and had no set schedule, Fiona Apple experienced moments of creative clarity. But often, these would shift into self-doubt and anxiety just as quickly as they appeared.

Fiona Apple’s ‘Fetch the Bolt Cutters’ Emerged like a Sculpture: Slow, Messy, and Magical

As the days inched closer to the album’s release, Apple worried about touring and how the album would be perceived. Old nightmares returning, spinning anxious loops in her mind.

But the album itself was a masterpiece. Fiona Apple may have a narrow........

© Vice