If you haven’t heard of Ani Difranco by now, you need to.
The singer-songwriter has been making music on her own label Righteous Babe for over 20 years. She gained popularity in the ‘90s with other female singer-songwriters like Aimee Mann, Sara McLachlan, and Alanis Morissette.
The scene was about women singing about issues that mattered to them, whether it was about abuse, abortion, love, or a vegan lifestyle. It was women with a real meaning to their songs, instead of feeling like Diddy.
The whole female singer-songwriter thing was pretty good, and pretty big, except everyone associated with it being labeled as lesbians.
This wasn’t completely true because while some artists, like the Indigo Girls, were lesbians others, like Sleater-Kinney were bisexual.
Unfortunately the whole feminist, I-don’t-want-to-be-objectified movement went underground and was partially forgotten after the Britney Spears, bad, pop, I-want-to-be-objectified music explosion.
The new album “¿Which Side Are You On?”, which was released on Jan. 12, ranges in styles from folk, marching band, to something kind of reggae sounding, but not really.
It’s almost the perfect album to listen to if you want to kick back and ride the chill wave. Overall, the blend of different musical styles adds to her credit as a talented and smart musician.
In keeping up with the current political state, her lyrics on songs like “J” and “¿Which Side Are You On?” fixate on the problems in our government and policies.
She also brings up women’s rights issues on the album.
My favorite lyric is from the song “Amendment,” “If you don’t like abortion, then don’t have an abortion.”
In addition to her lovely songs of protest, she has songs about love to round out the album’s feel. A personal favorite is the opening track “Lifeboat.”
It was hard for me to take this song off repeat because when the album starts she just lays out her emotions for everyone to hear.
Her strong and meaningful lyrics make this album a great addition to her fantastic collection or any music collection.
5/5 stars