Ani DiFranco ALLERGIC TO WATER. Righteous Babe Records

“I think that my one grain of wisdom in my life, which serves me well, is that when I meet a great teacher, I follow them. I invent excuses to be near them. Whether it’s Pete, Utah Phillips, or Sekou Sundiata, it’s made my life pretty great along the way”

I suspect the inverse is also true… So here we have DiFranco’s latest studio album following WHICH SIDE ARE YOU ON back in 2012. There are few artists who complete recorded music catalgue I own. In fact you could count this on the fingers of one and a bit hands. DiFranco is one of them. My collection started with LITTLE PLASTIC CASTLES which I still rate as one of DiFranco’s best and most accessible. I was taken aback by the quality of the performer and song-writing but I was also amazed at the record’s sound quality which was vivid and live-like. ALLERGIC TO WATER is a return to this incredible sound quality and I welcome it.

DiFranco has never sounded more relaxed and at peace with herself and her life. However, the opening track, ‘Dithering’, makes one believe that Brighton Rock is just around the corner… It’s an explosive start with DiFrancos typical guitar string hammering and the solid rhythm of clattering drums setting the scene. DiFranco enters the fray with an echoed solo and multi-layered vocals. It’s a melodic stunner and a firm favourite of mine. If I was back on radio, this song would open my show…

The vibe then becomes more relaxed, calmer. ‘See, See, See, See’ boasts a Latin rhythm instrumentally dominated by guitar and bass. DiFranco’s interpretation is light and rather happy. There’s another very strong melody with the clear message reflecting love’s less-than-rocky road. Lovely. ‘Woe Be Gone’ is a whimsical song that reminds me of something from a Bacharach composed movie track (with trumpets to underline the similarity). Different and very pretty.

‘Allergic To Water’ is a sonic and artistic wonder and I doubt I’ve heard a songer-songwriter sing with such clarity, conviction and musicality. If there was a strong argument to go back to playing CDs/Vinyls on good quality audio equipment this is it. It’s what music is meant to be.

‘Harder Than It Needs To Be’ has a more downbeat vibe which is adventurous as it is melodic. The instrumental intro is stunning while DiFranco’s voice is nothing less than compelling. I’ve yet to mention lyric quality and there’s a good reason for that. Has DiFranco ever written something that is not sincere, poetic, personal or meaningingful? Exactly. So take it as read that this record illustrates what a great lyricist DiFranco is (hell, if not one of the very best).

There are twelve tracks here and only one of them doesn’t light my fire. You got it. This is a great album and one of the year’s very best.

5/5

Ani DiFranco describes Allergic To Water:

Hello world,
Ani here.
Got a new wreckord and I don’t hate it.

We recorded it in two 4-day sessions, one while i was six and a half months pregnant (I swear I can hear how my voice sounds different in those tracks), and one a year later while I was nursing a six month old. The songs come very much up-out of that inward cocoon that a new baby creates and reflect the gifts and the strains of the journey.

Because the new babe is so high-maintenance (welcome to parenting a boy! say my knowing friends) I pretty much mixed and produced this one myself, after years of working very closely with my ace record-producing husband, Mike Napolitano.

Mostly I worked alone in headphones, in the wee hours, while my family slept. It was empowering but terrifying to have the buck stop with me again in terms of the mixes. The recordings are documents of my current touring band (recorded by Mike in our old Victorian house in the Marigny neighborhood of New Orleans and also by Andy Taub at a nearby church in the Treme) just laying down the songs.

Many also feature a couple of very choice special guests. My killer band these days consists of bassist and composer Todd Sickafoose, who not only brings an always wonderful and unexpected counterpoint to my guitar with his bass playing, but is also my secret weapon in terms of production - overdubbing atmospherics and embellishments that add depth and color to the stories I tell.

My drummer is Terence Higgins, a New Orleans native, who brings that deeply funky pocket that makes me smile so wide, yet all-the-while listening through to the whole picture and really making music with his instrument, not just rhythms. Though most of Terence’s musical incarnations have him playing drum kit, this record really features his hand-percussion prowess - like the congas on ‘See See See See’, the mardi gras indian style tambourine on ‘Genie’ - he nailed it every time.

And speaking of New Orleans, the incredible Ivan Neville joins the band on a good number of these tunes and, like Todd, has a way of elevating and deepening (does that make sense?) the proceedings every time. Ivan sunk his funky footprint into the mud of ‘Dithering’ and brought a steamy shimmer to ‘Tr’w’. He provides the perfect soulful response in ‘Happy All The Time’ and rides shotgun to my guitar in the drag race of ‘Careless Words’. I’m also quite psyched and fortunate that Ivan is going to join my band on tour this fall and help bring these songs to life on stage.

The other prominent and very special guest is violinist Jenny Scheinman, a long-time cohort of Todd’s and a more recent friend of mine. Jenny opened a bunch of shows for me last spring and we had such a blast hanging out and jamming together that I just had to get her on this new record. She joins the Greek chorus of my bullet-mic choir and also steps out and takes the lead in a few songs with her vivid and magical playing.

Beyond them, there is really just my friend and sometimes band member Mike Dillon playing triangle on one track and Matt Perrine, a New Orleans sousaphonist at-large, plays a dang tuba solo on “Harder Than It Needs To Be”, cuz every country song needs a tuba (technically sousaphone) solo! Am I right?

Ok, that’s really about it.
I hope you enjoy this record.
Thank you for listening.