When the Pawn...

by

Fiona Apple

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All year long I have been waiting to see who would receive the title of "album of the year" on my personal charts. That album has been released by a musical genius who so far has been more misunderstood than appreciated. "When The Pawn..." is the fulfillment of the promise made by Fiona on her debut album; an amazing musical experiment, a great combination of deep (it's deep people, not weird) lyrics, a sultry voice, and excellent musical arrangements. I'm more than glad to see Fiona taking on a slightly new direction making use of elements not seen or heard on her debut album. It is important to note that this work is less piano/melodic driven than "Tidal" -which still ranks as one of my top ten albums of the past 2 decades- and more focused on experimenting with the jazzy-bluesy feeling that this artist had shared with us on her previous effort. Tracks like "On the Bound," "Limp," and "Paper Bag" are outstanding in presenting Fiona's maturity in vocal and writing power. Likewise, they stand out ib their impeccable combination of Fiona's piano and other elements of percussion as well as some loops. In this regard this album compares with Tori Amos' "From the ChoirGirl Hotel" and Suzanne Vega's "99.9F" both of which meant gigantic leaps for the artists into the experimental fields of music. Some listeners may find that a general sense of anger and sadness prevails through most of the tracks, especially on tracks like "Get Gone" (my favorite) and "Love Ridden" but you cannot expect an artist like Fiona, after what you heard on "Tidal" to be singing happy ditties. To make this brief, anyone who is into powerful performers, especially female musicians, will be captured by this gem. If you've never heard of Fiona or if you were turned off by her darkness the first time around, I recommend you to still give it a try, listen to tracks like "To Your Love" or "Fast as you Can" and you'll agree on how extraordinary this album is. I rest my case :)