ALBUM REVIEW: Ani DiFranco Shakes Up the Script on ‘Unprecedented Sh!t’

When was the last time Ani DiFranco got weird with her music?

After the free-flowing eclecticism of her 2003 record Evolve, DiFranco settled into a comfortable, acoustic-folk groove. With the release of Unprecedented Sh!t, her 23rd album, she shakes things up again and presents 11 tracks that are marked by creative arrangements and some of her most impassioned lyrics in quite some time.

Ani DiFranco (photo by Danny Clinch)

Part of the album’s diversity is rooted in its composition. Unprecedented Sh!t consists of songs written between 2011 and 2022 for various projects, from singles to children’s books and musical theater. In that regard, it’s messier and less obviously conceptual than the tight focus of her past few releases. But the seemingly haphazard construction is at the core of the album’s charm, as it makes for exciting and unexpected listening experiences.

“Virus,” a reckoning with the ramifications of the COVID-19 pandemic, is an ideal entry point into the various themes DiFranco toys with on the album. There’s elements of the lilting jazz-folk that’s become her stock and trade since the 2000s and samples of one of her most beloved tracks, “32 Flavors.” What really makes it stand out is how DiFranco and producer BJ Burton utilize electronic/industrial guitar riffs on the chorus to express the chaotic nature of the pandemic era.

The approach pairs well with the album’s lead single, “Baby Roe.” On the surface, it’s a classic DiFranco feminist anthem, in which she tells the story of the adult child of Norma McCorvey (the “Roe” in Roe vs. Wade). On past songs, it was her impassioned vocals and the vigor of youth that carried the message. This time around, the passion is there for sure, but it’s aided by a cacophonous, driving arrangement that hammers the message home.

If you listen closely, the themes of anxiety, confusion, and reconciling the current moment are at the core of Unprecedented Sh!t. With the closing track “The Knowing,” a lullaby that provided the impetus for her 2023 children’s book of the same name, DiFranco focuses on the things you can be sure of. Namely, that means having an identity and life experience. But these concepts are constantly changing. She sings,

I have beliefs and someday
those beliefs might change
i have blocks that i like to arrange
and rearrange
there are things that i’m told
and things that i learn
there are skills i’ve practiced
and praise i’ve earned
but this is not all of who i am
underneath this is something more
all of these things are just what’s showing
underneath all that i know, is the knowing.

It’s a reminder that through all the tumult of the world, the one reliable thing is that we exist and we evolve to meet the challenges of life at all levels. At a time where everything seems unprecedented and uncertain, it’s the one thing you can remain certain of.

Ani DiFranco’s Unprecedented Sh!t is out May 17 on Righteous Babe Records.