The down-gazing, close-up shot of AppleвЂ™s face gracing the cover, and her wide-eyed expression, vaguely suggests. вЂњKick me under the table all you want,вЂќ she smirks on the refrain. Even so, Fetch The Bolt Cutters, as an album title, offers an uneasy greeting. Perhaps never more so than on вЂњUnder the TableвЂќ, on which she warns, вЂњDonвЂ™t you, donвЂ™t you, donвЂ™t you push meвЂќ. вЂњI resent you presenting your life like a f***ing propaganda brochure.вЂќ Listen harder, though, and the song seems to allude to the self-perpetuating cycle of abuse: вЂњEvil is a relay sport/ When the one whoвЂ™s burnt on/ Turns to pass the torch.вЂќ She recruited her sister as backing singer for вЂњNewspaperвЂќ, a song whose jaunty edge both belies and elevates the subject matter вЂ“ two women whoвЂ™ve been abused by the same man. вЂњI resent you for having each other/ I resent you for being so sure,вЂќ she rails, over carnival-like percussion.

If Apple didnвЂ™t insist that sheвЂ™s вЂњnot onlineвЂќ, parts of вЂњRelayвЂќ might sound like a riposte to smug Instagram couples.

Dua LipaвЂ™s вЂFuture NostalgiaвЂ™ is pure sonic spandex.

Laura Marling: вЂI wonвЂ™t be reduced to a trope.

So it feels good to take Fetch the Bolt Cutters off our plate of concerns and move it over to the mantle. Her songs have the sinister drama of a Sondheim musical, the technique of a classical symphony played backwards, and the titanic power of a pop song. Shirley Manson on Her Duet With Fiona Apple: 'Women Felt Empowered by Her Presence'. Since she broke out with her debut album Tidal in 1996 вЂ“ swiftly rejecting the industryвЂ™s sleazy embrace in the form of a scathing speech at the MTV Video Music Awards вЂ“ Apple has made music thatвЂ™s as fierce and mighty as a branding iron on fresh, white linen. She can drop her record into our lives and back away вЂ“ staying a safe distance from the music world вЂњbulls***вЂќ she so famously decried two decades ago.ДЄppleвЂ™s fifth album, Fetch the Bolt Cutters, is about вЂњwomenвЂќ, she says, and вЂњnot being afraid to speakвЂќ. Now that not leaving your house is a legal requirement, she doesnвЂ™t have to. вЂњI worry a lot about what itвЂ™s gonna be like when I actually have to put out an album and go out there,вЂќ the reclusive artist told Vulture late last year.

It feels like fate that Fiona Apple should release her first record in eight years while the worldвЂ™s on lockdown.

Fiona apple fetch the bolt cutters