CORPORATE LINE: Every new album from Ani DiFranco gives listeners a reason to get excited about music all over again, and her latest, Reprieve, is certainly no exception. Across 12 tracks, DiFranco ignites more of her signature blend of poetry, politics and musicianship.
Ani and touring bassist Todd Sickafoose are the only two players on the new album – something you’d never guess from it’s rich and detailed sound. In addition to the usual array of acoustic and electric guitars, Ani can be heard on keyboards, drums, and other instruments, while Todd contributes bass, wurlitzer, pump organ, piano and “fakey-bakey” trumpet and strings.
The album was tracked in her New Orleans studio in early 2005 during a break in her usually heavy touring schedule. Forced to leave the master recordings behind before Hurricane Katrina, she drove back into the city to retrieve them just three days after the levees broke. From there she headed back to overdub in her hometown of Buffalo with whatever instruments happened to be on hand.
Between the evacuation and the time off the road, Ani found herself concentrating on the process of recording to a degree she had never done before, and the resulting album is the clearest demonstration yet of her talents as a producer. Unconstrained by the pressures of touring, she was able to take her time with the record, and the end result is an overall sound that is clear and succinct.
While not intended to be taken as a concept album, the songs on Reprieve do provide a cohesive picture of what’s been on Ani’s mind during turbulent times on the personal, cultural, and global front.
Ani describes Reprieve as rooted in the Crescent City, and there’s a direct reference to that town in the album’s centerpiece, “Millennium Theater.” The line “New Orleans bides her time” in the middle of this scathing critique of the current Republican regime might sound like a response to Hurricane Katrina, but in fact the song was written well before the disaster that has devastated the city, about a crisis that took no one but the presidential administration by surprise. Like just about everything else on Reprieve, “Millennium Theater” finds Ani speaking her mind, singing from her heart, and playing music like her life—like all of our lives—depended on it.
THE REVIEW: Ani DiFranco is not only for feminists and lesbians—although some might like you to believe so—as her songs reach far beyond any boundary. With a sense of folk, country, and torn down instrumentals that focus more on DiFranco than her last couple releases. Reprieve kicks off with “Hypnotized” which is as spellbinding as the title claims.
“Decree” is Ani getting up her venom on our country and its hypocrisy. DiFranco wrote “Millennium Theater” before Hurricane Katrina destroyed New Orleans and called the song “divinely prophetic.” She found New Orleans to be full of despair and ignored by America as “New Orleans bides her time.” Remember—this was written before all hell broke loose. It’s all too sad.
Admittedly, poetry tracks such as “Reprieve” don’t do it for me. Its music that goes much further than talk as the power of the songs sucks you in to sing over and over.
FRANKLY: Reprive isn’t all political. “Unrequited” is a delicious melodramatic love song. Ani DiFranco isn’t all about politics or raising the blood of bureaucrats—she also has a tender heart that lends itself greatly to song. Reprieve is a wonderful combination of the many sides of Ani DiFranco.
+ Rae Gun
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.