By Brianna Goldberg, for CBC Music
With a message-driven artist like Alanis Morissette, her power is as much in the clothes on her back as the words on her lips. And when I think of Morissette, I think of leather, flannel and skin: the black leather ensemble, a quaint memory from her Janet Jackson-esque '80s pop hit “Too Hot;” the giant flannel button-down that swallowed her in the desert, in Jagged Little Pill’s raw and rocking “You Oughta Know;” the nakedness sported in the “Thank U” video, her first and newly emotionally zen single post-Pill. Three Morissettes: pop star, rock star, self-consciously one-with-the-Earth-mother chick.
As she makes stops in Toronto (Oct. 15) and Montreal (Oct. 16) this week, Morissette will be touring her latest effort, Havoc and Bright Lights, released this past August. Havoc makes five top-10 charting albums since Jagged Little Pill, but when it comes to iconic Morissette images, the birthday suit is where it ends for me. Nothing since has really burned an image. Nothing since has been as zeitgeisty.
And so now Morissette is back with a newly striking guise, as she dons a set of angel wings in the music video for “Guardian,” the lead single off her new record. Does this costume change signal that it’s time for listeners to welcome a newly iconic Morissette?
It’s the singer's first record in four years, and the first since she parted from her longtime record label, Maverick. Since we last heard from her, Morissette got married, had a baby, became an “attachment parenting” activist, released this record with an independent label and started engaging in publicity sponsored by Walmart. Well. This is a different Alanis Morissette.
So what’s to be expected from this new album — and is there anything for those who still long for an Alanis record to be something more?
Articulate lyrics for thinky listeners
From the woman who delivered $3 words like “duplicity” and “appropriate” in her alterna-rock as smoothly as “ooh” and “ahhs,” you can expect more intelligent and thoughtful word choices on Havoc. Morissette effortlessly trots out verbs like “soldier” and “condone” and, well, let’s just say the record will give you some reprieve from reading that word-a-day email from Dictionary.com.
But this time, the language lesson is mostly enveloped in a wash of sunshiney adult-friendly rock-pop. If you liked “Everything” from 2004’s My So-Called Chaos, you’ll be a happy light-rockin’ wordsmith with Havoc and Bright Lights.
Electronica
While it’s not completely out of left field (Morissette has been known to drop the odd electro drum loop), tracks like “Woman Down” and “Jekyll and Hyde” feature digital synth blips and electronica bass lines (and a rap bridge!) alongside more traditional electric guitar flourishes. Morissette hasn’t gone all DeadMau5 on us, but she does ask listeners to open their minds a bit to a more electronic groove. Prepare yourself.
Global perspective
The odd Eastern-influenced string arrangements still poke in here and there on tracks including “Numb,” similar to 1998’s “Uninvited” (from the City of Angels soundtrack). Meanwhile, “Lens” questions the judgment of religious and cultural differences with its words, even if it’s still clothed in the album’s overwhelming wash of shiny light rock.
Politics to spare
Distinct politics are everywhere in Havoc, whether relating to parenting, religion or gender relations. “Woman Down” is the most overtly messaged of the bunch, with lyrics that are “calling all lady haters.” Its pointed commentary, like its electronic base, is jarring against the warmth of the opening track, “Guardian.” But as she explained in the promo copy for Havoc, Morissette sees this record as her “emotional, psychological, social and philosophical commentary.” With it, she is on a mission.
This newest record does stand out from Morissette's recent discography as more of a brash ideas feast. But for listeners to appreciate the sometimes electronically wonky, sometimes Prozac poppy delivery of those longed-for musical arguments, they'll have to swallow Havoc's jagged little pill.
Related:
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Grant Lawrence's Guide to the Upcoming Canadian Releases For Fall 2012