Today, singer/songwriter/feminist/author Ani DiFranco announces her 23rd album, Unprecedented Sh!t, out May 17 on DiFranco’s label Righteous Babe Records. Produced by BJ Burton (Bon Iver), the title Unprecedented Sh!t not only reflects the significant departure in sound presented by Ani's latest 11-track album, but also serves as a poignant political and social commentary on the contemporary global landscape. Listen to DiFranco’s interpretation of her true self on “The Thing at Hand” and another album track, “New Bible,” portrays a different way of living outside of consumerism. Listen HERE. Pre-order Unprecedented Sh!t HERE.
The lead single off of Unprecedented Sh!t, “Baby Roe,” is a civil rights rallying cry highlighting the need for reproductive freedom and autonomy. On “Virus,” DiFranco wrestles with complex feelings about the pandemic, relishing the gift of slowing down and recognizing that humans themselves operate as a virus, environmentally speaking. Expounding on humanity’s oneness with nature, “Spinning Room” speaks to anxiety, suffering and disease though the voice of the individual and the voice of all of nature at the same time, while “More or Less Free” levels its gaze at the moral failures of incarceration. The album closes with “The Knowing,” also the title of DiFranco’s 2023 children’s book. 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.
DiFranco is currently starring as ‘Persephone’ in the Tony and Grammy Award-winning Best Musical, Hadestown. DiFranco’s history with Hadestown began in 2010 when she invited Anais Mitchell to release the original studio album of Hadestown on Righteous Babe Records. DiFranco originated the role of ‘Persephone’ on the album, leaving an enduring impression on the character as the show evolved over the course of several years. DiFranco is also a published author. Her memoir No Walls and the Recurring Dream was a New York Times Top 10 best seller in 2019, and her debut children’s book The Knowing is out now. Her next children’s book Show Up and Vote is due in August of 2024.
Widely considered a feminist icon, Grammy winner Ani DiFranco is the mother of the DIY movement, being one of the first artists to create her own record label, Righteous Babe Records, in 1990. She has released 22 albums, traversing folk, punk, hip-hop, soul and electronic genres and addressing a range of autobiographical, political and social issues. Her most recent album is the June 2023 25th Anniversary Edition reissue of her seminal effort Little Plastic Castle.
Unprecedented Sh!t Track Listing
1 – Spinning Room
2 – Virus
3 – More or Less Free
4 – Baby Roe
5 – Unprecedented Sh!t
6 – New Bible
7 – Boots of a Soldier
8 – You Forgot to Speak
9 – The Thing at Hand
10 – Interlude
11 – The Knowing
