Fiona Apple’s new video for her song “Every Single Night”, directed by Joseph Cahill.
I love it. This crazy mess is a mix of Cloverfield, Michel Gondry, my nightmares, and A Zed and Two Noughts.
Fiona looks gorgeous as always—a beautiful sizzle of nerves that we adore, all cheekbones and pale eyes and pouty mouth. Here she’s caught in a disturbing world of restriction, an aquarium/terrarium where she does things like slings dead fish to an alligator, embodies a dashboard-style hula doll, and fitfully spoons a mannequin. It’s basically a fairy tale set inside of an insane asylum.
Like the song, the video is calm but frought with the expectancy that Fiona is going to burst into a rage at any moment…it’s uneasy, with the promise of fury bubbling just below the surface. The theme is being trapped, controlled, and helpless. Fiona is lovely, but obviously a victim. Thank God for her reassuring smile at the end.
Everyone keeps saying how nice it is to have Fiona back, but I never lost her. Over the years, I’ve continued listening to her amazing music (especially 2005’s Extraordinary Machine, Jon Brion version, of course), and my husband and I have seen her at Largo now and again. She always shakes the walls of that place.
My favorites from her new album:
Hot Knife: I don’t know how I lived happily before this song. The lyrics are amazing, and Fiona’s voice goes playful, all over the place, fun to try and catch up with and thrilling to listen to. It has a little Beyoncé-style chorus and a killer piano line…not to mention those ominous, Monkees-esque drums.
Valentine: “I root for you…I love you…you, you, you, you.” My husband says this song reminds him of me. Of course I’m biased.
Largo: My heart almost popped when I saw she’d written a song about the aforementioned Largo. The highly-respected venue is one of the reasons my husband and I moved to L.A., and it’s fun to hear her name familiar names here, as well as completely sweet. “Go to Lar, go to Lar, go to Lar-go!” Thanks, I will.
Left Alone: A jazzy, wild piece that shows off Fiona’s voice perfectly.
I’ve said it forever, and I stand by it: I think Miss Fiona has the voice of the century. It’s so soft and pretty—until you piss it off. Then it turns into a war cry.
This post was written by Tori.
You must log in to post a comment.