Fiona Apple at SXSW 2012: Singer Returns After 5-Year Hiatus
Fiona Apple made a new debut in music at the SXSW music festival in Texas, after a 5-year hiatus from performing.
Excepting the occasional performance in Los Angeles at the Largo night club alongside friends, it has been five years since Apple has graced the rest of the states with her performing skills. Her Thursday night debut in Austin, Texas after being sorely missed, was no disappointment to her many fans.
Fans showed up at the festival by the mass, some exclusively just to hear new material from the long-lost artist. After Apple finished her first song, the crowd's reaction took even the singer by surprise.
"You're not real," Apple announced in the middle of roaring fans.
The singer performed three new tunes – "Valentine," "Every Single Night," and "Anything We Want." The new songs will appear on Apple's upcoming album titled, "The Idler Wheel is wiser than the Driver of the Screw, and Whipping Cords will serve you more than Ropes will ever do," which will be released in June.
It will be Apple's first album in seven years; it has been 15 years since her debut album "Tidal" was first released.
Despite her well-anticipated return, some critics remained skeptical over whether Apple would receive the same success as she did from her first album. Kyle Anderson from Entertainment Weekly remarked that some parts of her performance were very moving.
"At times, though, it seemed like her voice was not at 100 percent; moments during both the show-opening 'Fast as You Can' and the set-closing 'Criminal' came out strained," he commented.
However, Anderson also judged one of her latest songs as the greatest song for the night.
"The best, an almost jaunty track called 'Anything We Want,' showed off her voice in the best possible way, letting her cram a cascade of words into a twisting narrative without sounding burdensome," he stated.
