Baby brings out calm side of Ani DiFranco

January 27, 2015 at 12:05a.m.

A folk singer commenting on politics and social injustice for more than two decades, Ani DiFranco now finds herself delving into personal politics with her latest album “Allergic To Water.”

However, this time out, DiFranco has digressed from her loud, proud, fierce and independent style to more of a languid approach that is catching her cult audience off guard.

“A lot of people have been saying, ‘Whoa, it’s like the chilled-out Ani,’” said DiFranco, calling from her New Orleans area home. “I have an almost 2-year-old now, and this baby was just very demanding and wouldn’t let my husband [Mike Napolitano] and I work together.

“Usually my husband is co-producing with me and there’s sort of more action in the process but this was like Mommy alone in headphones while everybody else was asleep. That was the only time I could work with this new baby in my life, so I think that just affected the sound. It’s very intimate, it’s very nocturnal in how it was created.”

Known as the “Little Folksinger,” DiFranco explores hints of jazz, soul and electronica on “Allergic To Water.” Thematically, the songwriter said the title track is the poetic center of the album, acting as a metaphor that the most beautiful and life-giving things in your life can also be the most painful.

Other standout songs include the sparse “Genie,” which combines a back-porch feel with altered vocals and inspiring strings, as well as the sing-along friendly “Yeah Yr Right” and the bluesy “Dithering.”

DiFranco said all of the new tunes are about relationships, family and looking inward in an attempt to find a sense of peace even during trying times

“The fact I employed a more relaxed me for the singing makes sense,” DiFranco said. “I’m glad that I find that the more agitated me, which certainly was the one that came out of the box singing and yelling at the world, really appeals to other like-minded, young, especially women who are struggling with a lot of the same things.

“I noticed with the new record, just with my more relaxed, chilled out sounds, that people with further flung experiences are [finding it] more palatable. It’s like they’re hearing things from me that maybe they wouldn’t have heard otherwise.”

DiFranco returns to Northeast Ohio tonight for a show at the House of Blues. Ironically, the date marks the one-year anniversary of the passing of folk legend Pete Seeger. Not only did he appear on DiFranco’s fiery 2012 album “Which Side Are You On?,” but he became her friend in recent years.

DiFranco will also be at the Rex Theater in Pittsburgh Wednesday.

While talking about the passing of Seeger, DiFranco speaks to her place in the modern folk scene. Specifically, she describes herself as a “tweener,” in the sense she’s neither an elder or young pup.

“I was friends with Pete Seeger and Utah Phillips, I’m a direct link to the old guard of folk music, and I’m becoming that guy,” DiFranco said. “Which is, as my teachers and my mentors and my friends pass on, like the world keeps turning and we’re shoved into this position of being the old guard.

“Of course, I’m not there yet, but it’s very palatable to me that my teachers and my heroes are leaving this earth, Pete being a big one. They’re not here to guide me. So the lunatics take over the asylum.”