The Do-It-Yourself, dreadlocked indie pop queen, Ani DiFranco, is back with her twenty first album entitled “Educated Guess.”

Ani DiFranco is a cult heroine that has incorporated a slam poetry style with music and a do-it-yourself mentality. She began her own label, Righteous Babe, and with this latest album has taken over all the recording and mixing as well as providing all the vocals and music. She returned to the basics during the recording, using reel-to-reel equipment that allowed for the ambient sounds of the shack in which the recording took place.

This latest addition to her body of work is a collection of songs and poetry that requires the attentive ear of its listener, and will be satisfied with nothing less.

This makes the album, though an intricate display of DiFranco’s ideas on love, dissent, and feminism, a difficult CD to play in the background of everyday life. Only when the ear is fully given over to lyrics such as “I mean/ why can’t all decent men and women call themselves feminists? / out of respect/ for those who fought for this,” the work and ideals that DiFranco has always given can be appreciated.

This is especially true after track six, “The True Story,” when the album becomes a disjointed mess of noises when left unattended. DiFranco’s falsetto, in particular in track eleven’s “Company,” becomes slightly painful and its artistic use is lost to the listener.

There are some stand-out pieces from this latest endeavor, however. They span the first six tracks, in particular “Bliss like This,” and “Educated Guess.” The last track, entitled “Bubble,” is possibly the best song contained in this collection. It is an even and pleasing mix of lyrics, and musicality that does not overburden the listener.

All the slam poetry pieces of the album are also a welcome sound to the ears as DiFranco spills out word upon word without the distraction of any heavy musical accompaniment. These tracks include “Platforms,” “The True Story,” “Grand Canyon,” and “Akimbo.”As for the packaging of this album, it is a colorful and beautiful addition to the artwork of the music. The small booklet includes DiFranco’s lyrics as well as some of her previously unpublished poetry and artwork.

Though most Ani DiFranco fans will enjoy this new album, new listeners made me put off by the unpolished sound. It has its up and downs, good and bad, but neither outweigh the other, and leaves the listener with an indifferent feel to it.