Fiona Apple releases new single supporting mothers in pretrial detention

American singer-songwriter Fiona Apple has released a music video for her new single 'Pretrial (Let Her Go Home)', to raise awareness for women caught in America's pretrial detention system.

The video features photos and clips shared by women that have survived the cash-bail system, which as of 2023 holds over 400,000 people, according to the Prison Policy Initiative.

In a statement, Apple explained that over two years she “took notes on thousands of bond hearings” as a court watcher, and observed “time and time again as people were taken away and put in jail, for no other reason than that they couldn’t afford to buy their way free.”

The singer also said that "it was particularly hard to hear mothers and caretakers get taken away from the people who depend on them.”

The three-time Grammy winner has been volunteering with the Free Black Mamas DMV bailout for the last five years and said she has been "lucky to be able to witness the stories of women who fought for and won their freedom."

Apple dedicated the song "in friendship and respect to all who have experienced the pain of pretrial detention and to the women of the group’s leadership."

The single marks Apple's first new music since Fetch the Bolt Cutters (2020), which drew widespread critical acclaim, winning a Grammy for Best Alternative Music Album and debuting on number four on the US Billboard 200.