Fiona Apple's new album delayed indefinitely by record label

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CELEB INSIDER: Fiona's Epic Disappointment

Has Epic Records lost its taste for Fiona Apple?

It appears that Apple's new album, tentatively titled "Extraordinary Machine," is way overdue, and according to some reports, Epic has shelved the record indefinitely because none of Apple's new songs are suitable to become a single.

In late 2003, Apple said the record (her first since 1999's "When the Pawn...") was due out in February, but more recently, her producer Jon Brion (renowned for the soundtracks for "Magnolia," "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" and other movies) said it's unclear when the album will be out. "It's a done record. take whatever amount of time they'll take deciding how to promote it," Brion told Rolling Stone.

An unidentified staffer at Epic told us that Apple is no longer with the label. Messages left with PR reps at the company, seeking confirmation, were not immediately returned.

Has Fiona Apple been dumped by Epic Records? Fionaapple.com, which is part of the Epic Records website, apparently has not been updated in several years. It contains no references to the long-awaited new record; on the contrary, it refers to "When the Pawn..." (now almost five years old) as Apple's "new" record.

Record companies do not usually make announcements when an artist has been axed. Fans of former "American Idol" star Justin Guarini only learned he'd been cut from the RCA label when his page mysteriously disappeared from that label's website.

Since she released her first album in 1996 at age 18, Apple's career and life have been noteworthy if not prolific. In the years since her last record was released, Apple ended her personal relationship with director Paul Thomas Anderson ("Boogie Nights"), threw a much-reported tantrum onstage at New York's Roseland Ballroom and endured the ensuing negative publicity, and then took a couple years off to "hang out with family, friends and her dogs, read, take walks, ride her bike, and work on her art," according to a 2003 Rolling Stone interview with the singer.

Apple said her new record would have 10 tracks, ranging in style from Tom Waits to tin pan alley, Vaudeville, and OutKast. "I guess it's all over the place," she said.

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