Fiona Apple

The stranger the artist, the more faithful the fans; isn’t that the standard equation when it comes to music? Case in point: Fiona Apple’s followers waited six long years for this album, and when it reportedly was scrapped by its label for lack of “an obvious single,” outraged fans mailed thousands of real and faux apples to Sony CEO Andrew Lack in protest. (Just imagine the fruit flies in his office.) Then someone leaked eleven of the album’s twelve songs on the Internet. Remember, “fan” is just the root of “fanatic.” But on hearing some of those songs, we remembered, too, that what Apple lacks in fat cells, she makes up for with a sexy, rhythmic, and uncommercial sort of genius. This recording shows she’s grown up, but not out of that.