by Lluvia Mulvaney-Stanak

       Not even Hurricane Katrina (or the more horrific response of the Bush administration afterward) could prevent Ani DiFranco from putting out another album. Her new effort, reprieve, puts her at well over 20 records which sets a pace of nearly one a year, a feat even more impressive if you know how crazy her touring schedule used to be.
      A response to a past year filled with intense personal challenges, Ani has once again put together an album that surpasses her previous work both in musicianship and content. Ani is not and really has never been just a “folksinger.”
      She has been a musical leader amongst those who are determined to buck the industry standards of selling out and/or shutting up. This 13-track CD continues to mix her personal and political thoughts into one continuous flow of prose. In fact, at this point it is hard to tell which songs are about failed relationships verses a failing of society or the government.
     I suppose that is the key to Ani’s success and foresight as an artist. She is able to meld the personal and political and create a soundtrack that makes even the most picky music fan sit up and take note.
     Ani continues to move away from her “big band” days of the late ‘90s and gets back to “basics” - if you can even call it that - with reprieve. The songs reflect on her rough past couple of years: a divorce, health issues abruptly halting her insane touring schedule, and the continued decline of her hometowns (first Buffalo, NY, and now New Orleans).
      Despite the sometimes melancholy undertones, this is a musthave addition to any true Ani fan’s collection.

Lluvia Mulvaney-Stanak is Co-Executive Director of Outright Vermont