Fiona Apple – Fetch the Bolt Cutters (Vinyl LP)

Unfiltered, fiercely independent and gloriously unconventional - the sound of an artist finally answering to nobody but herself.

Released in 2020, Fetch the Bolt Cutters is Fiona Apple's fifth studio album and one of the most acclaimed records of the decade. Built around unconventional percussion, clattering rhythms, intimate piano and Apple's unmistakable voice, it tears up the rulebook of polished pop in favour of something raw, unpredictable and deeply personal.

Much of the album was recorded in Apple's home, with everyday sounds - including her dogs barking - becoming part of the music itself. The result feels wonderfully alive: pianos rattle, objects become percussion, and songs shift between delicate introspection and explosive, almost primal energy.

The title track is a declaration of freedom, inspired in part by the idea of breaking out of situations that keep you confined. Under the Table is a defiant refusal to stay quiet for other people's comfort, while Shameika revisits a childhood memory of being told she had potential by a girl at school. It's a small moment transformed into a song about self-belief, identity and the unexpected ways people shape us.

Apple's writing is razor-sharp throughout, mixing dark humour, anger, vulnerability and startling emotional honesty. Her approach to rhythm is equally distinctive, favouring shifting patterns and unusual sounds over conventional pop structures. Even when the music becomes chaotic, every detail feels deliberate.

The album received extraordinary critical acclaim, winning the Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album and becoming the first album to sweep all three major critic polls from The New York Times, Pitchfork and The Guardian in the same year.

Fetch the Bolt Cutters is not background music. It's a fearless, deeply human record about reclaiming your voice, confronting the past and refusing to make yourself smaller for anyone else.

Essential for fans of alternative pop, art pop, experimental music and songwriting that refuses to play by the rules.