It used to be that I couldn't listen to Ani DiFranco without thinking of that blasted tribal tattoo emblazoning her cleavage. Then, I couldn't get past her sometimes-irrational political lyrics for a sit-down love-in with her musical content.
But to DiFranco's credit, neither her stacked bosom nor her dissenting rants have a chance of distracting listeners of her latest - and greatest - body of work, Evolve.
Just five months removed from the release of So Much Shouting, So Much Laughter, the live, double-CD that chronicles two years on tour and the musings of several-thousand concert-going DiFranco freaks, the Buffalo, N.Y., native shows that she's just as engaging in her studio work as she is onstage.
From Evolve's opening track, "Promised Land," heavily-laden with silky horn sections, to "Serpentine," a 10-minute-plus opus of erratic, yet beautifully chaotic guitar picking by DiFranco, the album is truly a musician's recording.
DiFranco winds her way through Evolve by incorporating jazz ["O My My," "Shrug" and "Promised Land"] into her well-established folk-rock sound moreso than she has on any other recording. And "Here For Now," a tightly-performed, Latin rhythm-inspired jaunt accompanied by DiFranco's quick wit, is arguably the most interesting song on the album.
DiFranco's band is finally spotlighted, effectively allowing listeners to digest the mesmerizing composition of Evolve before digging into the album's substantial lyrical content.
Reach the reporter at joe.watson@asu.edu.
|
Ani DiFranco Evolve Righteous Babe Records
(out of four) |
