Ani DiFranco
Educated Guess (Righteous Babe) Since respected punk folkie guitarist and singer-songwriter Ani DiFranco has no productivity problems – putting out albums yearly since 1990 – each new release is greeted with questions of significance. Educated Guess opens with “Platforms,” where Ani plainly speaks: “Life knocked me off my platforms, so I pulled out my first pair of boots.” This change in footwear represents the sabbatical she gave her band and crew, doing all the playing, singing, recording, and mixing on her own. More importantly, DiFranco reflects on her recent divorce and the post-9/11 world; knocked down, but still walking. The outcome is 14 nuanced songs with oftentimes inspired fretwork, and deeply personal lyrics. That’s saying something, since the Righteous Babe chief and antiestablishment impresario wears her heart lyrically on both sleeves. “Grand Canyon” is political action poetry with atmospheric guitar; even occasional meandering doesn’t skew its power and poignancy. In “Bliss Like This,” the singer wants to know you like her garden, “what you smell like, when you’re blooming, what lives underneath.” Her acoustic arpeggios in “Bodily” are alluring yet restrained – perfect for the stark beauty of this elegy to a dead relationship. Sounds on Educated Guess take a back seat to words, but this is the mark of a mature songwriter with chops galore. No question making Educated Guess was cathartic for Ani DiFranco, but easy listening this ain’t. In touching the human condition of loss, Educated Guess is acutely convicted and packed with unpretentious honesty. (SXSW interviewee Ani DiFranco will be at the Convention Center Saturday, March 20, 1:30-2:45pm, and possibly a guest that night at the Righteous Babe all-stars showcase, 10pm @ the Texas Union Theatre.)
This article appears in March 19 • 2004.