Brett CallwoodFiona Apple
When the Pawn (Clean Slate/Epic)
My all time favorite album is Fiona Apple’s When The Pawn. I remember the moment I first listened to that record and the exhilaration I felt at the first note when the piano rolls in and you hear Jon Brion’s fuzzy guitar lines and the instant vibe that album creates. It creates its own world. And then Fiona’s voice comes in. No lie, I get that same excitement EVERY. SINGLE. TIME and I must have listened to this record at least well over 500 times. Maybe more like 1,000.
(Clear Slate/Epic)
I’ve studied this record and actually used this album as a template when teaching myself how to sing so many years ago. Every single time I listen to the album, I hear a new instrument, a new melody, a new cadence in her voice. It’s a record that truly keeps surprising me all these years later. And I can unapologetically say that there was no one doing what she was doing back then in the songwriter/pop world. Lyrically going into places that took from hip-hop, pop, soul, R&B and blended them with cinematic soundscapes. LEGENDARY.
Rituals of Mine’s “Come Around Me” is out now.
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