Extraordinary Machine

Japanese pressing includes 2 live bonus tracks 'Paper Bag' & 'Extraordinary Machine'. Fiona Apple is ending her curiously long hiatus from the business of making music. A year after 11 tracks were leaked onto the Internet, drawing praise from critics and fans, Epic Records announced that Apple's Extraordinary Machine will be released. It's been six years since Apple's last album, When the Pawn... was released in 1999. Since then, the young Grammy-winning singer has been treated to a deluxe serving of the frustrations of modern music: It isn't always easy to make beautiful songs, and creative control is a nebulous concept at best. Last year, Apple and the multitalented producer Jon Brion came up with a wonderfully complex construction of Brion's vision and Apple's voice. But after months of silence from Apple and Epic parent Sony on a release date, all 11 songs popped up on the Internet. The Internet had proved to be the most extraordinary machine of all. Moreover, the album was very good. Tracks titled 'Oh Sailor' and 'Please, Please, Please' ooze the same sullen sultriness that made Apple's debut album, Tidal, triple-platinum. The album now has 12 songs, produced by Mike Elizondo. One is new, and nine are reworked versions of leaked tracks.