Fiona Apple plays the Peabody Opera House on the heels of her fourth album
Do not judge a book by its cover, and definitely do not judge Fiona Apple's newest album by its title; the singer-songwriters lyrics are not as dense or painful as her newest album's title: "The Idler Wheel Is Wiser Than the Driver of the Screw and Whipping Cords Will Serve You More Than Ropes Will Ever Do."

Apple's understated, 10-track album is perhaps her best work yet, topping her three previous albums, two of which went platinum and one of which, "Extraordinary Machine," found itself in the spotlight of the growing music pirating hubbub in the early 2000s.
Apple's deep voice leads her music in her newest song, with her sometimes zany instrumental arrangements taking a backseat, at least volume wise. Still, she packs more musical variety and unexpected takes into her relatively sonically sparse tracks than most artists achieve in a life-time of albums.
Likewise, her lyrics are the stuff of singer-songwriter success; voice wavering love and anger material that neither falls into self-indulgence nor drops a wall between her and the listener.
In "Every Single Night," Apple repeats that she "just [wants] to feel everything." After three albums, she is as close as she has ever been to letting her audience feel everything with her.
Also this weekend, Off-Broadway celebrates Woody Guthrie's 100th birthday, jazz funk outfit Good 4 The Soul graces Jazz at the Bistro and free symphonic music fills Washington Universities quad.
Fiona Apple
When: 7:30 p.m. Saturday, July 14
Where: Peabody Opera House, 14th St. and Market St., St. Louis
How much: $45 - $90
Link: http://peabodyoperahouse.com/

Just One Big Soul: Woody Guthrie 100th Birthday Party
When: 8 p.m. Saturday, July 14
Where: Off Broadway, 3509 Lemp Ave., St. Louis
How much: $10 - $13
Link: http://www.offbroadwaystl.com/
En francais with Elsie Parker and the Poor People of Paris
When: 7:30 p.m. Sunday, July 15
Where: Brookings Quadrangle, Washington University, 1 Brookings Dr., St. Louis
How much: Free
Link: http://www.gatewayfestivalorchestra.org

Good 4 The Soul
When: 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, July 13 and 14
Where: Jazz at the Bistro, 3536 Washington Ave., St. Louis
How much: $20 general, $10 students
Link: http://jazzstl.org/experience/artists/good-4-the-soul/
