Epic Schallplatten & CDs

Review: The world has long needed more Fiona Apple. An artist with a relatively slim body of work - 'Fetch...' is only her fifth album since debuting in 1999 - nevertheless her impact on music has been significant, spending a quarter century within corridors of the industry itself. Moreover, she represents all that's right about the business' uncompromising eccentricities, although sadly this now serves to remind us of all that's been lost in the sanitised and corporatised 21st Century model. Few who remember her MTV Video Music awards acceptance speech, calling bullshit on an entire industry, will be surprised at this latest work, then. From erogenous piano numbers, to percussion played with the bones of a dog, it's hardly by-numbers, never safe, and always on her own terms. Employing background clatter, worksong rhythms and alternative acoustic rock, the finished article is well worth the wait.