The 2005 album that almost caused Fiona Apple to quit music: “I didn’t have anything left in me”
Fiona Apple's third album, Extraordinary Machine, had such a fraught journey to release in 2005 that it nearly drove her out of the music industry altogether. After touring her acclaimed second record When the Pawn… in 2000, Apple moved to Los Angeles and hit a lengthy creative dry spell, later admitting she "didn't have anything left" to write about, and briefly considered quitting music entirely. It was only a plea from her friend and producer Jon Brion, who was going through his own difficult period, that persuaded her back into the studio in 2002.
The pair recorded an elaborately orchestral version of the album at locations including Abbey Road Studios, finishing by May 2003, but Epic Records then shelved it, reportedly unable to identify a hit single. With no clear release date and fans growing suspicious, a mail campaign was launched urging Sony to put the record out, and Apple told her manager she was ready to leave the industry. Producer Mike Elizondo eventually reworked all but two of the album's 11 tracks with Brion's blessing, and the reshaped Extraordinary Machine finally arrived on 4 October 2005.
- Fiona Apple nearly quit music during a three-year creative block
- Epic Records shelved her finished 2003 album over lack of a single
- Producer Mike Elizondo reworked most tracks before its 2005 release
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Fiona Apple is an American singer-songwriter who first found success in the 1990s with albums such as Tidal and When the Pawn…, known for her distinctive voice, confessional lyrics and often turbulent relationship with the music industry. Extraordinary Machine, released in October 2005, was her third studio album, made with longtime collaborator and producer Jon Brion, who helped bring her back into the studio after a long period in which she struggled to write.
The album's path to release was unusually difficult. An early, more orchestral version recorded with Brion was completed but shelved by her label, Epic Records, reportedly over concerns it lacked a commercially viable single, leaving the record in limbo for an extended period. A separate producer, Mike Elizondo, later reworked most of the songs before the album was finally issued.
This background matters because it explains why Extraordinary Machine is often discussed less as a standalone record and more as a case study in the tension between artists and record labels, and in the personal toll that delayed or contested releases can take on musicians.