Ani DiFranco releases new album

By: Michael Chagnon

Posted: 10/2/08

Ani DiFranco is a Grammy Award winning singer-songwriter and is considered both a creative artist as well as a positive female role-model. She began playing music when she was only nine years old and went on to found her own record label. For over a decade she toured constantly, winning fans over one at a time, paving the way for her own musical career.

DiFranco is a textbook example of how to achieve success in the music industry without a major label. While her music is typically considered folk or folk rock, she has experimented with a variety of genres.

DiFranco's latest release is called Red Letter Year. Owning the record label through which she releases her music gives her an exorbitant amount of creative freedom. Co-produced by partner Mike Napolitano, DiFranco's new record is somewhat more informal than her previous releases. The opening track shares its name with the album and is a moody mix of folk, ethereal and jazz, yet it still maintains pop sensibilities that many will find attractive.

The second song, "Alla This," will make fans of DiFranco's personalized rhythmic vocal styling's happy. "Emancipated Minor" starts out like a techno track, and then proceeds to get funky. Other tracks that stand out as possible singles include "Way Tight" and "Round a Pole."

The atmospheric mood and the arrangements on Red Letter Year aren't a vast departure from her past, but DiFranco consistently puts out meaningful music. In that way Red Letter Year is no different - it is art. The record ends with Red Letter Year Reprise" and sounds like a very fun, improvised jazz session. There are 12 tracks in total on this album with a release date scheduled for Sept. 30, 2008. For more information visit www.righteousbabe.com.