Ani DiFranco
Knuckle Down
On Sale Now
For $11.48

This enticingly prolific songstress has been churning out her Righteous Babe records year after year, sometimes putting out a double record or two records in the same year. I hate to say it, but as a fan, I really had lost interest. Nothing was as relevant or emotionally dynamic as her best offering, Dilate, although each record that followed had a handful of tracks that stood out. "Everest" in particular, was almost a Gospel anthem of classical proportions. By the time Evolve came out, I actually stopped caring. At now she has put out her best effort since 1999.

Knuckle Down showcases the duality between Ani's trademark vulnerability meshed with sweltering self-assurance. DiFranco bites her lips, grinds her teeth, smiles intensely, kicks the dust from underneath her sandals and sheds tears again on this record, due to recent divorce and the unfortunate loss of her father. From great pain comes great art and it's good to see Ani back in solid form again even if the coffeehouse production (shared with Joe Henry) is kept minimal and unexperimental. Still there's a welcome, subtle use of hushed strings here, beautifully utilized during "Recoil”, which is by far the standout track. Implementing a charming folk-rock rhythm and the aching responsiveness, Ani shows with lyrics like “I think of my dad who time travels mostly now/Back to when he was free and holding out hope somehow.” Other tunes suc as “Studying Stones” quicksand into her own musical lineage in hopes of reconnecting to profundity with the poetic dissertation of “I am out here studying stones trying to learn to be less alive/Using all of my will to keep very still/Still even on the inside.” For fans, this could be dubbed as a come back, even though she hasn't gone anywhere, although it did take some time to hone her strengths and return to form. I was holding out for a more personal, intimate record like this, and it was worth the wait. I give her credit for branching out in the past, but sometimes reinvention isn't always the best course of action.

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