Ani DiFranco, Reprieve
by Michael Parillo
The hypnotic music on Reprieve draws slowly into focus and often flirts with silence, as Ani strips away her rowdier tendencies and makes her point gently. But she's got lots on her mind as she sings of bombs and Enron and her adopted home New Orleans, with anger, yes, but also with hope. Eerie background sounds, like a softly whirling organ and percussion that feels like the distant clip-clop of horses, underscore her pensive mood beautifully. Ani possesses a singular vision, and Reprieve plays like a unified work — its subtlety is best appreciated when the album is listened to as a whole rather than slipped song by song into shuffle mode.
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Ani DiFranco, Reprieve
