9/10

Having first emerged back in the 1990s with her breakthrough debut album 'Tidal', US frontwoman Fiona Apple has always been one of those rare characters that never looks to overexpose herself. In fact, when she followed up her debut release with the sophomore full-length 'When The Pawn...' in 1999, the three year gap between the two was the shortest wait we ever had to endure for a new Fiona Apple record. And after a long eight years since the unveiling of her 2012 LP 'The Idler Wheel...', we are finally getting to hear her fifth studio release 'Fetch The Bolt Cutters', a collection that shows she is far from lacking in creativity.

From the very start, 'Fetch The Bolt Cutters' sees itself as an abstract and diverse collection that sometimes feels it was recorded without any musical instruments to hand. The record's title-track seems to use various kitchen utensils such as pots and pans to create its percussion, and even ends with her dogs barking during its finale. It is this level of musical experimentation that has made Apple such a captivating figure on the musical horizon, and this album is simply jam-packed with a broad and adventurous aesthetic that see her push the boundaries of her formative sound to create one of the most engaging releases we have heard all year.

'Fetch The Bolt Cutters' is one of those purely original pieces of work that only an artist like Fiona Apple could have gotten to work so well. It has this elegant and effortless charm to it, giving it a flow that you can't help but come back to again and again. It will probably be close to a decade before we get to hear her next album, but we still won't be sick of this one by then.