Fiona Apple has a loyal and intense fan base, and these fans have waited eight years to hear from her since her last studio album, “The Idler Wheel…” in 2012. So after a cryptic video announcement posted to her fan Tumblr on March 8 in which she used American Sign Language to spell out the phrase “My record is done,” fans rejoiced.

On Fiona Apple’s album “Fetch the Bolt Cutters,” released April 17, she tackles a wide variety of topics from spirituality to peer rejection, but all of them collide to form the album’s message: not being afraid to stand up for yourself and escaping from your constraints.

“Fetch the Bolt Cutters,” is Ms. Apple’s first album in eight years, and fortunately, almost every aspect of it lives up to the hype.

One of the biggest highlights on the album is the title track. Ms. Apple weaves stories from her early career with stories from her childhood to present the listener with the central theme of the album. While lyrically brilliant, the thing that most stands out about the song is the beautiful delivery. Whether she’s effortlessly switching between a less melodic style and her usual singing voice or delivering the chorus in a subtle-yet-powerful manner, Ms. Apple’s voice remains memorable due to the abundance of confidence.

The 11th track “For Her” is the culmination of every idea on the album. Ms. Apple maneuvers through several melodies to deliver scalding lyrics. Like many tracks on “Fetch the Bolt Cutters,” “For Her” fuses several stories together to more effectively deliver a concept. In this case, she mixes lyrics about her disgust at the news that Brett Kavanaugh would serve as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court with lyrics detailing a conversation she had with a survivor of sexual abuse. The track’s pinnacle is its bridge, which features the album’s most harrowing lyrics, accentuated by Fiona’s most bold and emotionally resonant vocals to date.  

While “Fetch the Bolt Cutters” is an unmistakably great album, there are some sub par moments in it. The 12th track “Drumset” is effective in being a cool down following the album’s climax on the previous track, but it doesn’t add much to the central theme of the album and is too repetitive to keep the listener engaged. While most of the tracks feature repetitive choruses, Fiona’s monotone delivery makes “Drumset” a slog to get through.

Overall, “Fetch the Bolt Cutters” is one of the most stellar and well-crafted albums in recent memory. It is essential for anyone who considers themself a fan of music, and the album’s colorful instrumentals and vivid songwriting will surely leave listeners stunned for decades to come.