These days, every artist’s album needs to have a story. The music can’t speak for itself.
But after 22 records, why can’t Ani DiFranco’s work speak for itself? Yes, her forthcoming
album is shaped by stories — ones about reproductive freedom, the double-edged sword of
the pandemic, identity and ever-evolving belief systems that have shaped each of its 11
songs. It was paramount to the folk-feminist hero that listeners not be saddled with
preconceived notions while diving into her 23rd album Unprecedented Sh!t. 'I believe there
is a rhyme and a reason as to why these songs have come together in this way now and I
want people to experience this album as a journey, a piece of art, without being influenced
by a cacophony of surrounding narratives.'
While many of DiFranco’s albums were made more insularly, she’s opened herself up to
collaboration in recent years. For 21 of DiFranco’s 22 albums, she opted to self-produce.
With Unprecedented Sh!t, she wanted to try working with a producer and tapped BJ Burton,
who produced one of her favorite albums, Bon Iver’s 22, A Million.
The title Unprecedented Sh!t is not only representative of how much of a sonic departure
the 11-track album is from Ani’s other work, but also a political and social commentary on
the current state of the world. 'We find ourselves in unprecedented times in many ways,
faced with unprecedented challenges. So, our responses to them and our discourse around
them, need to rise to that level.'
![ATRAS DEL COSMOS - COLD DRINKS, HOT DREAMS [LP]](http://strypt.com/5499934_150.jpg "ATRAS DEL COSMOS - COLD DRINKS, HOT DREAMS [LP] (BLANK FORMS EDITIONS)")
