Fiona Apple returns after five years with comeback single ‘Pretrial (Let Her Go Home)’
Fiona Apple has released her first song in five years, a blasting protest song entitled ‘Pretrial (Let Her Go Home)’.
The single is accompanied by a music video. The video opens with a white typewriter font over an ominous black screen and reads, “For over two years, I observed thousands of court hearings as a court watcher.”
The text continues: “I saw so many people get caged away simply because they could not afford bail.” The official Let Her Go Home website expands on the real-life events that influenced this original song. It reads: “She saw so many people get caged away simply because they could not afford the bail. Pretrial. Presumed innocent.”
It continues: “This song is a story about collective hurt. But also hope that we will end the pain of pretrial.” The music video then includes real footage of the women impacted by pre-trial detention in the United States, notably Black mothers and their families.
Apple’s lyricism stems entirely from the victim’s perspective, highlighting the dehumanisation of women in pre-trial proceedings: “She took on extra shifts, still couldn’t pay the bail / No danger, no danger, but she will stay in jail / She was not convicted of anything / Won’t you let her go home? / At home she’s got two kids, and Grandma needs her care / Who’ll pack the lunch and give meds if she’s not there?”
Apple said of the track: “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. 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.”
‘Pretrial (Let Her Go Home)’ marks Fiona Apple’s first original release since her acclaimed album Fetch The Bolt Cutters five years ago. Far Out called ‘Fetch The Bolt Cutters’ an “extraordinary body of work that captured the hearts of fans and critics alike. A record defined by raw emotion, intricate storytelling, and sonic ingenuity, it marked a triumphant return for an artist who has long forged her own unique path.”
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