RIGHTEOUS BABE/AVELINE
The ‘lazy teen’ cliché wasn’t coined for Ani DiFranco. By 14, the Buffalo, New York singer-songwriter was touring her own songs; by 16, she was living alone; at 18, she set up her own label, Righteous Babe; and at 20, she released her self-titled debut album. Nearly 30 years later, the touchpaper that sparks her is still the hope of a better world.
Like DiFranco’s previous 19 albums, Binary – available via Pledge on 140g vinyl with lyric booklet or in a limited edition of 50 test pressings – doesn’t concern itself with despair. Instead, her indefatigable defiance powers 11 bittersweet, contemporary alt-pop songs recorded in the run-up to last year’s US election. “I was done at 16, showing up for class/I was out there in the rain, learning how to kick some ass”, she sings on Play God. With assistance from guests Maceo Parker and Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon, she’s still at it.
Chris Parkin