Ani DiFranco: Knuckle Down : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone

Album Reviews

Known more for her image and independence than for any particular song, Ani DiFranco remains an iconic singer-songwriter to her followers and the press without actually being heard by much of the radio-listening public. With the atypical addition of co-producer (and fellow folkie) Joe Henry, Knuckle Down has a chance of changing that situation. But like the records before it, her fifteenth studio album sounds underproduced - when a melody or acoustic guitar riff threatens to coalesce into a hook, the arrangement runs the other way. The last track, oddly enough, is the exception to this rule. Beginning quietly, "Recoil" builds through repetition and layering. Suddenly the beat drops out as violins enter, and the tune fades away as it emerged -- but it still could be the radio breakthrough DiFranco has long avoided.