"The way I feel about music- any song, any style- is that there is no
right and wrong, only true and false. If the music and lyrics are conceived
out of honesty and if the production of the song goes along with its 
original message, then what has been expressed is art regardless of what
anyone's opinion is of it. So things are a lot simpler if you just tell
the truth."

 Sage words. Insightful words. Spoken like a venerable music veteran who's
seen it all and maintained integrity at all costs. Except they weren't.
They were spoken by a debut artist. One who has yet to perform for the
public. One who is 18 years old. But once you hear Fiona Apple's Tidal,
her debut album on WORK/Clean Slate, you will not doubt that those words
come from a wisdom that is beyond age, that is inherent, uncompromising
and straight from the heart.

 Tidal is ten timeless songs. The music defies boundaries, the lyrics 
pure evocative poetry- what you'd expect from someone whose sole influence
is Maya Angelou. Although Fiona Apple is first and foremot a songsmith,
her piano and haunting, dusky voice are the ultimate vehicles for her art.
"It wasn't that I didn't think I had a nice voice, but I consider myself
more a writer," Fiona explains. "I played piano since I was about 8, and
always wrote songs- I sang them because it wouldn't make sense for anyone
else to."

 Such songs as 'Shadowboxer', 'Tidal's' chill inducing first single, which
explores the danger of desire and vulnerability gains an eerie musical
motif. Or the steadfast promise- to seduce? succeed? Fiona hints but won't
disclose- of 'Slow Like Honey'. Songs that can rock with only the merest
suggestion of guitar ('Criminal'), bring you to your feet with delicate
danceability ('The First Taste'), soar with a rare glimpse of the upper
register ('Never Is A Promise') or pulse with implacable strength to
music that is stark, percussive and forthrightly primal ('Sleep To Dream').

 The songs on 'Tidal' reveal an old-soul eloquence and depth that make
rules (paying one's dues, building a fan base, etc., etc.) rather irrelevant.
Not that Fiona denied or refused to follow them- they just didn't apply.
"This is something I think I've always wanted to do but didn't say aloud-
I wouldn't admit it to myself, because admitting it meant making myself
vulnerable to the possibility that it might not happen, and that thought
was unbearable. I didn't want to make a move until I knew it was the right
thing," Fiona says. "And I wasn't sure until about a year ago."

 That's when "I decided the doors were open for me," Fiona, a native New
Yorker, says. "It's not so much that this is my destiny but I made it my
destiny- it's impossible to imagine life not doing what you want to do."
So, Fiona, the progeny of an artistic family (her father's an actor and
her mom is a singer, dancer, nutritionist, fitness trainer, cook) came
to Los Angeles to spend time with her dad, complete her high school education
through independent study- and do a demo. Her objective was to make a
slew of tapes and send them out widely- but she wound up saving the postage.
As soon as the tapes were done, Fiona went home to NYC for Christmas,
bringing a few copies of her demo along. One tape wound up in the hands
of a friend who happened to babysit for a prominent music industry 
executive; the friend passed the 3-song demo on to the exec, who in turn
played it for a holiday party guest: producer and manager Andrew Slater.
"Andy called and said he wanted to meet me," says Fiona, "and we've been
working together ever since."

 At the time, however, Fiona didn't have enough material she felt to be
album quality. "Songs don't just pour out- so I pressured myself to write,"
she says. "I'd write 2 songs a week, and I don't know how I managed it 
because every time I write a song I don't think I'll be able to write 
another ever again."

 Once she was satisfied with the songs, she entered the studio with various
musicians she'd met through Slater. No parts were written- which translates
into Tidal's breathless spontaneity (indeed, several tracks are one-take
wonders) and a certain tendency toward improvisational fade-outs. "We just
played," Fiona says simply.

 Upon the album' release, Fiona embarks on the next phase: performing.
"I know it's going to change my life... I'm looking forward to it- I think
that's what all this blood, sweat and tears has been for," she says with
a small dauntless smile. "I'll be nervous, but what else can I do? I won't
go backwards."

 While Fiona Apple's lyrics may be interpreted in many ways, the overriding
message of her debut is that life is the sum of experience- painful and
joyous, tangible and emotional, positive and negative. "My album is called
'Tidal' partly because all this has hit me like a tidal wave, but also
because 'tidal' refers to ebbing and flowing, and that's really what life
is... a constant ebb and flow."

 For Fiona Apple, the tide is high- and the time is now.

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