Alanis Morissette
Flavors Of Entanglement

THE REVIEW

It’s been too long, almost four years, since "So Called Chaos," a very underrated and gentle album that managed to be loved. You could find a friendly person in it, someone who seemed to confide secrets. Now this highly anticipated "Flavors Of Entanglement," an album with a dual face, perhaps due to the production by Guy Sigsworth, producer of big alternative names (Bjork, Cocorosie, Bonnie Prince Billy), in particular, seemed out of place: had Alanis thrown herself into trip hop or ambient? I hope not.

She is a rockstar, a feminist, one with a steel resolve. In fact, the first track does not disappoint: "Citizen Of The Planet," introduced as if it were a ballad and continued with a metal bass, reminds one a lot of "Jagged Little Pill." Alanis screams, feels at ease, and still proves she knows how to scratch. Following is "Underneath," the first single, a successful airy ballad that seems to come out of the previous album, with its intoxicating yet incisive chorus. These two tracks we've listened to are truly splendid, but Alanis loves to play, and thus she serves up one of the worst pieces of her career: "Strait Jacket," a mediocre dance-rock piece that mimics the sounds of the ugly cover of "Crazy" by Seal, which she herself made for her greatest hits. At this point, the album divides: between extremely successful and sweet ballads ("Not As We") and rock pieces from the early Alanis ("Versions Of Violence").

There are also beautiful standout tracks: the inevitable trip-hop turn due to production, "Moratorium" is the piece in question, with Alanis’s beautiful voice becoming lugubrious over almost IDM beats. Very interesting, I expected worse. There are great songs, to hum at any moment, to love for their rock textures combined with electronics (superb "Tapes," very beautiful "Incomplete"), but there are also very bland, vaguely boring songs ("Torch," "Giggling Again For No Reason").

A very well-made album, refined, rich with sounds new to Alanis (electronics, ethnic sounds) that demonstrate: an ever-growing talent, intent on experimenting in new boundaries, without dwelling too much on rock. It is a very good album, and one appreciates the courage of an Alanis who is always stubborn and outspoken (profanities are widespread in the lyrics), decidedly unique.