Fiona Apple has premiered a new song called “Pretrial (Let Her Go Home).”
The track was inspired by the years the “Criminal” artist spent observing court proceedings as a volunteer court watcher. Its lyrics focus on women who are unable to afford bail, and thus are detained in jail ahead of their trials.
“I was a court watcher for over two years,” Apple explains. “In that time, I took notes on thousands of bond hearings. Time and time again, I listened as people were taken away and put in jail, for no other reason than that they couldn’t afford to buy their way free. It was particularly hard to hear mothers and caretakers get taken away from the people who depend on them.”
“I hope that this song, and the images shared with me, can help to show what is at stake when someone is kept in pretrial detention,” she continues. “I give this song in friendship and respect to all who have experienced the pain of pretrial detention and to the women of the group’s leadership who have taught me so much and whom I truly love.”
Apple’s most recent album is 2020’s Fetch the Bolt Cutters. Since then, she recorded a song for the Lord of the Rings show The Rings of Power, guested on the new Waterboys album and released a cover of Neil Young‘s “Heart of Gold.”
Fiona Apple has premiered a new song called “Pretrial (Let Her Go Home).”
The track was inspired by the years the “Criminal” artist spent observing court proceedings as a volunteer court watcher. Its lyrics focus on women who are unable to afford bail, and thus are detained in jail ahead of their trials.
“I was a court watcher for over two years,” Apple explains. “In that time, I took notes on thousands of bond hearings. Time and time again, I listened as people were taken away and put in jail, for no other reason than that they couldn’t afford to buy their way free. It was particularly hard to hear mothers and caretakers get taken away from the people who depend on them.”
“I hope that this song, and the images shared with me, can help to show what is at stake when someone is kept in pretrial detention,” she continues. “I give this song in friendship and respect to all who have experienced the pain of pretrial detention and to the women of the group’s leadership who have taught me so much and whom I truly love.”
Apple’s most recent album is 2020’s Fetch the Bolt Cutters. Since then, she recorded a song for the Lord of the Rings show The Rings of Power, guested on the new Waterboys album and released a cover of Neil Young‘s “Heart of Gold.”
