Fiona Apple’s When the Pawn (which is an abbreviated version of a longer poem) is an album I discovered through Spotify’s Discover Weekly last year in June, and was a contender for one of my favorite albums I listened to that year, as well as one of my favorite albums period. The title track, On the Bound is what initially caught my ear, and then through going back and listening to the full albums of songs I liked I gave the rest of an album a listen and discovered a really solid album that’s full of passion, a ride of emotions, and accurately describes the feelings one might experience when in, or out of, a relationship.
Fiona explores a lot of different emotions throughout the album, and the track listing is a good balance of songs with quirky, catchy melodies and songs that get you in your feels with relatable lyrics and personal introspectives. Songs like On the Bound and Limp explore an angrier, darker, passionate side of Fiona while tracks like Paper Bag and The Way Things Are explore a catchier, swingier side with tinges of bitterness and aggressiveness towards herself and the relationship(s) she reflects on throughout the album. Songs like Love Ridden and I Know provide a break from the norm and explore a deeper, gloomier and sullen side of Fiona with a piano backing track and attention to a vocal forefront. The entire album is tied together by Fiona’s gorgeous sultry crooner vocal style and strong lyrical choices, with a hint of whimsical riffs and wind instruments strung throughout.
This album, had I listened to it a 5+ years ago when I was regularly in emotional turmoil, would have been extremely relatable to me. It explores the extremely complicated emotions behind relationships, and break-ups. They’re not black-and-white, and in my opinion the feelings cannot be expressed easily, and that is absolutely reflected in this album with the twists and turns it brings the listener on. I would highly advise a listen to anybody in touch with their emotional side and anybody who pays close attention to lyrical value in music, for that reason.
I would also highly recommend this album to anybody who is a fan of singer/songwriter type music, art rock, that sort of thing. This is a category of music I’ve been experimenting with listening to more, and I would say this album is a great representation of such.
There are a lot of reasons this album has been hailed as one of the greatest albums of all time by the Rolling Stone, as well as many others, so I would say undoubtedly this is one of my favorite albums I’ve ever heard and would rate it 10/10.
