Reprieve (album)

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Reprieve
Ani DiFranco - Reprieve.png
Studio album by
Ani DiFranco
ReleasedAugust 8, 2006
Recorded2005–2006
Genre
Label Righteous Babe
Producer Ani DiFranco
Ani DiFranco chronology
Knuckle Down
(2005)		Reprieve
(2006)		 Canon
(2007)

Reprieve is the 15th studio album by singer-songwriter Ani DiFranco, released on August 8, 2006.

Contents

Righteous Babe Records' website notes that only DiFranco's bassist Todd Sickafoose, who had accompanied her on her recent tours, would be performing on the album. The album has a dark, mournful, mellow sound reminiscent of 1999's To the Teeth and 2004's Educated Guess and features experimental arrangements with synthesizers, electronics and tape manipulation.

As the recording of the album was briefly interrupted due to the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, the album has a heavily political and vaguely conceptual undercurrent that "paints a haunting portrait of New Orleans as the water retreats and the natives continue to rebuild their lives." [1]

The album cover was inspired by a picture of a real tree in Nagasaki which was partially destroyed by the atomic bomb. While the city around it lay in ruin, this one tree stood, half of it destroyed, the other untouched. DiFranco also references the eucalyptus tree in the title track about the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

While the official release date of Reprieve was August 8, the album was made available for purchase on the iTunes Music Store between June 24 and 27, 2006, possibly in error, as the album date on the site was listed as 2002.

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic (74/100) [2]
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svg [3]
Down Beat Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svg [4]
Entertainment Weekly A [5]
musicOMH Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [6]
NOW Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [2]
Paste Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [2]
PopMatters (7/10) [7]
Slant Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svg [8]
Spin (6/10) [2]
Uncut Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [4]

The album so far has a score of 74 out of 100 from Metacritic based on "generally favorable reviews". [2] No Depression gave it a positive review and said of DiFranco: "Her acoustic guitar playing is mesmerizing, as usual, but her melodic fills on electric guitar and keyboards, along with her percussion work, brings some color to this group of songs." [9] Billboard also gave the album a positive review and said it was "more languid than earlier efforts without sacrificing the urgency of [DiFranco's] patented guitar pluck-strum." [2] E! Online gave it a B− and called it "an arresting mix of the singer's political and personal strife set to a jazzy backbeat." [2]

The New York Times gave it an average review. It said of DiFranco: "Subtle sounds – acoustic instruments, electronic tones, environmental noises, distorted echoes – well up around her, and they open pockets of shadow around her usual pinpoint clarity. Now the atmosphere is as important as the words." [10]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Ani DiFranco

No.TitleLength
1."Hypnotized"4:11
2."Subconscious"3:32
3."In the Margins"3:13
4."Nicotine"4:06
5."Decree"3:43
6."78% H2O"3:30
7."Millennium Theater"3:14
8."Half-Assed"3:30
9."Reprieve"2:45
10."A Spade"4:24
11."Unrequited"4:06
12."Shroud"4:48
13."Reprise"1:34

Personnel

Production

Charts

Album

YearChartPosition
2006The Billboard 20046
2006Top Independent Albums3

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References

  1. ↑ http://www.sovo.com/2006/6-9/arts/music/music.cfm Sovo.com Retrieved on 06–06–07
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Critic reviews at Metacritic
  3. ↑ Allmusic review
  4. 1 2 Album reviews at CD Universe
  5. ↑ "Entertainment Weekly review". Archived from the original on April 27, 2009. Retrieved June 29, 2013.
  6. ↑ musicOMH review
  7. ↑ PopMatters review
  8. ↑ Slant review
  9. ↑ No Depression review
  10. ↑ "New CD's (Published 2006)". The New York Times . Archived from the original on August 29, 2019.
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