Ani Difranco: Reprieve

Herald rating: * * *

Ani Difranco releases at least an album a year, which might explain why Reprieve sounds as though she's making it up as she goes. Forced to neglect her equipment when Hurricane Katrina hit, she had to start again in Buffalo. And so begins her string of observations, some angry and political, others simple and personal. "While the ice caps melt, New Orleans bides her time," she sings on Millennium Theater.

Although her delicate vocal is the focus, the album's haunting quality is also down to her talented ensemble of musicians, who flesh things out with double bass, piano, organ, and occasionally, unsettling electronic elements.

Reprieve also crawls with phrases that sound like they were written by a cynical philosophy student intent on showing off her vocabulary.

The result is a stream of consciousness both charming and frustrating.

Difranco is more engaging with a beat and structured melody behind her than when she's indulging in hippy-dippy poetry. If she didn't flesh out her every lyrical idea with ill-fitting melodies (Unrequited), this would be a more satisfying listen.

Label: Shock