I get feisty

Fiona Apple - 'Hot Knife' (The Idler Wheel... - 2012)

The closing track on Fiona Apple’s 2012 album The Idler Wheel Is Wiser Than the Driver of the Screw and Whipping Cords Will Serve You More Than Ropes Will Ever Do,¹ ‘Hot Knife’ is a melodic exploration and conclusion of two threads that weave through the album; confidence and romance.

Before the release of The Idler Wheel..., Fiona Apple was already an established figure in the alternative music landscape. Having emerged in the late '90s with her critically acclaimed album Tidal, she garnered attention with hits like ‘Criminal’ and her candid songwriting. Her subsequent albums, When the Pawn...² and Extraordinary Machine, further solidified her reputation for intricate melodies and raw lyrical introspection. Apple's artistic integrity remained uncompromised, despite label disputes and production delays, especially with 2005’s Extraordinary Machine. By the time The Idler Wheel... was on the horizon, fans eagerly anticipated her next musical evolution.

What they got with that album was a profound deepening of Apple's musical tapestry, blending her unique brand of introspection with novel sonic elements with ‘Hot Knife’ among the standouts on the record. This track, resplendent with percussive vibrancy and intricate vocal harmonies, stands as an evocative testament to the complexities of passion.

It is a song with the woven vocals of Apple and her older sister, the cabaret singer Maude Maggart dominating the back end of the song. Apple shared with New York magazine how they had spent hours at the same microphone, intertwining their voices in what she described as “the most intimate moment of our lives together.”³

The song is an optimistic full stop to the album’s narrative. The preceding tracks are rife with introspection, vulnerability, and raw emotion, such as the turmoil of ‘Every Single Night’, the isolation of ‘Left Alone’ or the, er, regret of ‘Regret’. These themes of personal angst, loneliness, and introspection are starkly contrasted by the assuredness and upbeat rhythm of ‘Hot Knife’. In its positivity, the closing track offers a resounding affirmation, suggesting an acceptance or even celebration of the complexities laid bare throughout the album and reflects a return or at least a re-emergence of confidence in its tone and lyrics.

Even back in 2012, when I would frequently listen to this album on a long commute across London, I was drawn to the opening line that captures a feeling that sometimes romantic entanglement is as easy as a hot knife cutting through butter. With that tribal percussion behind it, it is an arresting start to the album’s finisher. That rhythmic heartbeat continues throughout the song as drummer Charley Drayton gives the piece its signature pulse.

Another lyric that intrigued me is the reference to a "dancing bird of paradise". When the album was released, Vulture writer Dan P. Lee spent time with Apple and, in the resulting article, concludes;

I noticed an odd piece of paper. There was an insignia at the top, and it began “On January 28, 2009, Americans of all backgrounds will join together in unity and shared …”—it was part of an invitation to Barack Obama’s inauguration.

On it Fiona had scrawled many words, including the name “Attenborough,” and what appeared to be notes from a nature documentary. There was writing on both sides, including, on a back corner: If I’m butter then he’s a hot knife. He makes my life a CinemaScope screen showing a dancing bird of paradise … The documentary was apparently discussing natural life, in high and low altitudes. She noted:

High: male looks alike; no need for plumes; has to gather food = only one wife

Low: more food; females raise young alone; males concentrate on—

I could not make out the last word. I asked her if she could come help. She looked for a long time. It was, she agreed, tough to figure out. Then she smiled. I could hear the word ever so slightly crackling in her dry, dry mouth. It said dancing.

Given the timing and the reference to Sir David Attenborough, I can only imagine that the notes are from his 2006 BBC documentary Planet Earth, which makes the video below the Bird-of-paradise clip.

It is hard not to compare this mesmerising and slightly bizarre courtship display and Apple’s vulnerable outpouring. In the same way, the male bird tries to distinguish himself from the crowd, ‘Hot Knife’ does from the rest of the album by that uplifting tone.

We often talk on The Run Out Grooves about how a final track sets up an artist for what comes next; that’s true to a degree here - given that Apple would retreat from public gaze for almost eight years, it is easier to mark ‘Hot Knife’ as a staging post rather than a trajectory. The intimate, layered musical arrangements and more and more experimental and playful percussion are hallmarks of Fetch The Bolt Cutters, particularly on ‘Under The Table’ and the Grammy-award winning ‘Shameika’ which see her lean more into the avante-garde and even musique concrète and on that 2020 magnum opus, Apple truly blossoms.

The Run Out Grooves Infinite Loops

1. From this point onward in the text, The Idler Wheel….

2. Full title (deep breath)

When the pawn hits the conflicts he thinks like a king
What he knows throws the blows when he goes to the fight
And he'll win the whole thing 'fore he enters the ring
There's no body to batter when your mind is your might
So when you go solo, you hold your own hand
And remember that depth is the greatest of heights
And if you know where you stand, then you know where to land
And if you fall it won't matter, cuz you'll know that you're right

3. https://genius.com/Fiona-apple-hot-knife-lyrics#about