Pros: Confident, assured songwriting on par with some of DiFranco's better works.
Cons: A few of the songs highlight DiFranco's penchant for self-indulgence.
The Bottom Line: Though not without its faults, the gentle, languid Knuckle Down is a wonderful return to form that re-establishes Ani DiFranco as an artist to pay attention to.
kknox0616's Full Review: Knuckle Down [Digipak] by Ani DiFranco
Having captured the attention of a rabid fanbase and many critics with a steady progression of self-produced records, independent-minded record label mogul/singer-songwriter Ani DiFranco went from little-known coffeehouse folksinger to devotionally beloved Zany Rock Heroine seemingly overnight, building a solid support system of adoring fans and landing herself high-profile gigs alongside the likes of peers Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, the Indigo Girls, and Prince. But, having delivered the stunner that was 2001's thrilling To the Teeth, she turned her attention to horn-section-heavy improvisational jazz music, releasing a trio of ambitious but underwhelming studio records (and a largely self-indulgent live set) that seemed to indicate that, like her Purple Paisley idol, she had succumbed to her own self-importance.
Fortunately, DiFranco's latest offering, the "kind-of" acoustic Knuckle Down, shows that, while she is still prone to occasional whims of unnecessary musical rambling, reports of her decreasing artistic relevance were largely exaggerated. DiFranco ditches the "horny" session players and pairs up instead with critical darling Joe Henry (you'll probably know him as the guy who penned the song upon which Madonna's 2001 gem, "Don't Tell Me," was based, though he's released a number of his own critically lauded discs; he plays co-producer here), and goes on about her business as if the last three years never happened. Knuckle Down, then, is the obvious choice for a companion piece to To the Teeth, and is for Ani a noble attempt to return to her roots. And for the most part, she succeeds: the jaunty title track shows DiFranco at her guitar-strumming, finger-picking best, launching into an exploration of her "cowgirl alter ego" that conjures her demons and insecurities in telling lyrics like: "Lecherous old lady wanna-be/Much too young and shy/Flailing her whole life/Just thinking she can teach herself to fly/Vehement romantic/Frantic for forever right now/But forever's going nowhere tonight."
Elsewhere, the sexy "Manhole" reveals Ani confronting an adulterous playboy (perhaps her recent ex-husband?) against a driving rhythm section that gives the song a welcome dose of aggression; the languid "Sunday Morning" evokes just that with its lazy-sunrise guitars and gentle, lilting melody; and the supple, somber bombast of "Studying Stones" and the disc's lovely closer, "Recoil," are as close to old-school Ani as DiFranco has gotten in years. (Madonna fans will get a kick out of the disc's 2nd Madge connection: "Recoil" features guest vocals by frequent Madonna backup singer Niki Harris.) On "Stones," for instance, DiFranco sings with the kind of earnestness that once established her as the patron saint of coffeehouse folksingers: "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/I've cut off all of the pertinent wires/So my eyes can't make that connection/I am holding my breath I am feigning my death/When I'm looking in your direction." By the end of the gentle, lilting chorus, when she proclaims, "Any more pent-up emotion/Think I'm going to explode," you can honestly relate to her struggle. There's a jaunty, bluesy vibe fusing the sexy "Modulation," while the challenging but melodic "Lag Time" benefits from Ani's increasingly inspired guitar work. "Callous," meanwhile, is a moody study of a deteriorating relationship on which Ani observes "You can't will yourself happy/You can't will your c#nt wet/You can't keep standing at the station/Pretending you're being mad," and the wonderful "Paradigm," with its slowly building melody, recalls DiFranco's childhood sitting in on her activist mother's political meetings and the effects they had on her. Since no Ani record would be complete without one of her spoken-word epics, Knuckle Down contains the requisite talkie "Parameters," a harrowing account of the aftermath of one woman's experience with physical assault.
There are a few missteps, however: the distant "Minerva" is the most glaringly self-conscious of the bunch, an overly ambitious track that features some of DiFranco's most grating vocal work in years, while "Seeing Eye Dog," which starts off as a fun jazzy track about devotion and honor, becomes a song lost in an identity crisis when DiFranco shifts tempo halfway through--and it doesn't work. (This song is really two songs, and it's too bad DiFranco didn't flesh them both out as separate tracks.)
The songs are arranged and produced well, though it should be noted that, while Henry is credited as co-producer, Knuckle Down sounds no different than any of DiFranco's earlier CDs. One has to wonder how much influence he really had over her (DiFranco's penchant for dominating over production sessions is infamous). And, while it certainly is nice to see DiFranco returning to her humbler roots, I must say that it would have been nice had some of these songs been a bit more fleshed out and expansive in terms of instrumentation. But, mostly, Knuckle Down shows an artist struggling to rediscover herself, and it is often brilliant in what it kicks up. Yet for all its nostalgic folksinger bravura, it is also the sound of someone looking forward to a future--one that is hopefully filled with more worthy efforts such as this.
On her latest studio album, Knuckle Down, Ani Difranco has woven a sensual tapestry of songs, colored with the performances of some very special guest...More at Buy.com Marketplaces
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