Here’s your chance to experience the evolution of a true original. Canon, the first-ever retrospective of Ani DiFranco’s career, takes listeners from the confessional folk of her early days to the foundation-shaking poetry of 2006’s Reprieve, touching on all the funky forays in between. With Canon fans will get an unprecedented look at how the artist sees her prolific career, and newcomers will get the ultimate primer in DiFrancology. Because like everything else she creates, Ani made this record to her precise specifications, carefully selecting 36 songs from her voluminous back catalog, including tunes from her first album and her 19th.

As a result, Canon doesn’t play like a greatest hits package, but an album that’s arranged and intended to be played from beginning to end. There’s even some surprises along the way – a handful of re-imaginings of Ani classics, fresh, inspired versions of the Dilate gems “Napoleon” and “Shameless,” as well as “Your Next Bold Move,” “Overlap,” and that simple, aching ballad and live staple that absolutely never gets old, “Both Hands.” So while other “best of” projects get slapped together by labels to fulfill artists’ contractual obligations, Canon represents the beginning of a new phase of Ani DiFranco’s unabashedly unique career. Because sometimes, for us to move forward, there’s nothing healthier than taking a long, fruitful look back.