Ani DiFranco, like many singers of the folk genre, rarely see any distinguishable press converge. While this keeps the music pure, it also prevents any real exposure to their sound outside of live shows and several CD releases.

Ani, however, is a very prolific writer with over thirty albums released, eighteen of which are studio releases. In that same breath, she also has the experience of being a poet and that shows in her lyrical style, abandoning the basic rhyming scheme and meter for a more natural song writing.

“Red Letter Year” is pretty exemplary of this style and has decent guitar work from Ani which doesn’t let up from song to song. In some cases it’s a very minimal effort in comparison to the backing band, which is fantastic, but she makes it a very unique addition to every song.

Listening to the album, however, can be a bit trying as the lyrics can become convoluted song to song. The music is unique but, it doesn’t flow very well and gives moments of drastic transition. Picking songs from the album and listening to them individually is a better plan to actually enjoy the music. There are four to five really good single quality songs, but the rest unfortunately fall into a category of bland.

For the mellow crowd with an open mind this should be a nice treat for the upcoming holiday.

Reviewer rating: 2.5 elephants