MANILA, Philippines?Getting over a broken heart is never easy, but if you?re a singer-songwriter, at least you can make music?and sell a lot of records?out of it. This is more or less what Alanis Morissette does in ?Flavors of Entanglement,? her most recent release.
The album may be new, but the territory it explores isn?t?as anyone who?s been around in the past decade would know. Heartbreak, as well as its various attendant emotions, was the driving force behind the success of 1995?s ?Jagged Little Pill,? which has doubtless gone down in history as the most furious post-break-up album ever made.
Household name
?Pill? made Alanis an international household name, but its success also had a downside. Every album she?s ever made after ?Pill? has been compared to it and has, more often than not, been found wanting. The joke was that she?d have to be brokenhearted once more to be able to produce something as visceral again. The Alanis who gradually mellowed down and started growing up in ?Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie? (1998), ?Under Rug Swept? (2002) and ?So-Called Chaos? (2004) was deemed not interesting?read: not angry?enough.
?Flavors of Entanglement? was made during and after her split with fianc Ryan Reynolds (who?s now engaged to Scarlett Johansson), and generated quite a bit of speculation: Would Alanis let loose with another woman-scorned anthem ala ?You Oughta Know?? However, folks tend to forget that she?s also the same person who sang ?Thank You.? So, if you?re expecting ?Jagged Little Pill?s? degrees of scorn and anger in her latest compilation, ?Flavors,? prepare to be disappointed.
This time around, there?s more lamenting than venting, and more regret than rage. Musically, the new album is a descendant of ?Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie,? with its dense walls of sound and mystic swirls. The influence of producer Guy Sigsworth, who?s also worked with Bjrk and Madonna, is apparent throughout the record?particularly in album opener, ?Citizen of the Planet,? with its Asian-inspired flourishes.
Elements
Electronic pulses, drum loops, segues into dance beats and moments of bright pop?all these elements combine to form a thick, impenetrable atmosphere, which wraps around Alanis? clear, unmistakable voice.
While songs like ?Citizen of the Planet,? ?Straitjacket? and ?Versions of Violence? are multilayered and interesting, it?s the quieter numbers that deliver the biggest impact: ?Not As We? and ?Torch,? both with only the piano as accompaniment, reverberate with the pain of heartbreak. Despite the heartache, however, there?s also a strong sense of self-affirmation.
The thing about Alanis that makes you forgive her for even her most inexplicably cryptic lyric is that she isn?t a whiner. When she gets kicked down, she picks herself up?and we get to hear about the process!
