Editor’s note: We are not puritanical about swearing here at AUK, in fact we like a good cuss from time to time, but NSFW email filters might block tomorrow’s Mailchimp email if we don’t change the wording of the title. Hence. Carry on…
A challenging set of songs for our times from artist-activist Ani DiFranco.
Ani DiFranco has released 23 albums to date and if there is one thread that runs through the 24 years since her debut it is her determination to be herself. Her career has been marked by a determination to maintain artistic and economic independence and her social and political activism.
So, despite the title, “Unprecedented Shit” is themed around the personal and the political. This is underlined by the songs respectively closing each side of the LP – ‘New Bible’ and ‘The Knowing’.
Produced by BJ Burton (Bon Iver, Low, Charli XCX), the title “Unprecedented Shit” does reflect the departure in sound presented by the new record on which DiFranco and Burton have called on support on keyboards, percussion and backing vocals.
The opening track ‘Spinning Room’ sets the scene with a single chord repeated before DiFranco introduces lyrics addressing exhaustion and medication. The backing to ‘Virus’ also has an electronic percussive feel to with slightly more punch while the song reflects on powerlessness.
More traditional acoustic guitar lies at the base of ‘More Or Less Free’ while DiFranco half sings half speaks on the divisiveness of labels and silos while “it seems obvious we’re just humans born more or less free”. ‘Baby Roe’ is described as “a civil rights rallying cry highlighting the need for reproductive freedom and autonomy”. Musically it sounds a lot more core DiFranco.
The title track features more percussive keys and electronics while the vocal deals with some of the frustrations of her life as a recording and touring artist.
Which brings us to ‘New Bible’ the longest track on the record and side 1 closer. Starting by revisiting the theme of medication it blows up into a strong political statement which in turn references the social anaesthesia from screens and entertainment. After which it rises again into a manifesto for change culminating in:
“I think we should have a new bible, one that only has two words;
I think we should have a new bible, that just says Mother Earth”.
Structured as an acoustic blues it returns to the subject of medication and its propensity to “betray what is wise”. You can listen to ‘New Bible’ here.
Side 2’s opening song sticks with the blues but moves from the large canvas to musings on the past lives of a pair of military boots and also DiFranco’s guitar. The next tune ‘You Forgot To Speak’ is introduced with an electric guitar figure with the chorus amplified by more electronics and distortion.
‘The Thing At Hand’ is another statement song in which DiFranco rejects labels and groupings in favour of people being themselves and getting on with their lives. The final song ‘The Knowing’ shares its title with DiFranco’s children’s book published in 2023. The notes say “DiFranco believes if there’s an overarching message to come from her record, it’s in this song; the idea that we can harness the power of identity without being limited by it and without becoming lost in the subjective narratives of the ego”.
Perhaps to relieve the intensity, the two songs are divided by a short instrumental interlude.
“Unprecedented Shit” is a strong collection of songs from an accomplished artist who very definitely walks the walk she talks.
