The virtual New Yorker Fest wrapped up on Sunday (10/11), and, as mentioned, it included a livestream from Fiona Apple on Saturday night (10/10), who talked with Emily Nussbaum and performed songs from her new album, Fetch The Bolt Cutters. It's the first performance footage of songs from that album that's surfaced, and it was a treat to see Fiona, at the piano and on the drums, joined by her band to perform "Shameika," "I Want You to Love Me," and the album's title track. Watch video of all three songs below.
Fiona's conversation with Nussbaum was complicated by a power outage that hit her current location in the path of Hurricane Delta in Alabama, where she was staying on a road trip, but she made it work and by the end of their conversation, the power returned. They touched upon Bolt Cutters' surprise pandemic release, its perfect score on Pitchfork, the affect the internet and social media have had on the music business, performing live, Bolt Cutters' lyrics, Kate Bush, and more. Here's an excerpt from one of her answers describing her feelings about playing shows:
I think that -- I hope that -- what I've been told about, like, how this album has -- had an effect on people or what it's done for them, what I've been told that it makes me feel so proud and I feel like I really succeeded because I've always thought that in, like, putting on -- like when you do concerts and stuff, when you do anything in public performance, I always -- I don't feel like I need to address people in the audience and tell them how good looking they are or tell them that -- or really, like, shake their hands and I'm not saying that that's bad, that's wonderful.
And certain shows are great, like that and people go there to bond with each other and watching music. There are certain types of shows that you want to be able to, like, see the person pointing at you and smiling at you and saying, I see you and I love your outfit and shit and you want to have that experience.
But for shows that I do, the way that I want to do it is I want to actually go through something and forget that everybody's and just go through something and really just do it for myself because I feel like that's the kind of show that I get something more out of is when I'm watching something, somebody go through something private and I feel like I'm alone with that person and I'm part of that and I'm going through that, too.
And somehow, that connection works and each person in the audience can have that connection with you and be alone with you if you're not talking to everybody.
You can get virtual tickets for The New Yorker Fest to watch the whole conversation (as well as the fest's other events) through Tuesday (10/13).
