Alanis Morissette
Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie

THE REVIEW

How does it feel to have sold more or less thirty million copies with your debut album and to have been elevated (rightly or wrongly) to a feminist heroine with grit?

This is precisely the crux of the second album by the Ottawa singer-songwriter, whose title “Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie” serves as the perfect introduction.

After three years of silence and a trip to India to distance herself from an overwhelming and difficult to manage success, Alanis returns to recount her story and tell us about all her demons and fears. This is a verbose, difficult to classify album, where stream of consciousness often replaces traditional song structure. Morissette enjoys confusing us, scaring us, and opening her heart without filters using 17 tracks, reaching heights that, unfortunately for her and for us, she will never reach again.

It ranges from tales of sick and complex loves observed from the “front row”, with a bit of detachment (“Front Row” and “I Was Hoping”), moving through lists of fears and paranoia (“Sympathetic Character”, “Would Not Come”), to pearls of introspection like “That I Would Be Good”, “The Couch” (according to the speaker, the most courageous and successful piece of the album), or “One”. There is also room for a couple of tracks characterized by a sound more similar to the energetic and rock one of Jagged Little Pill (“Joining You”, “Baba”), but in general the atmospheres are much darker and the lyrics more complex and original compared to the much acclaimed predecessor.

In short, with this album Morissette took a step away from mainstream pop-rock and moved closer to the great singer-songwriters who have always, by the artist's own admission, been her models (unfortunately this was not rewarded by the public, as often happens with somewhat more complex products). The greatness of this album lies precisely in how the references and models have been made her own and reworked in a completely original and personal way (even if “UR” and “Your Invitation” truly bring to mind Joni Mitchell and Tori Amos respectively).

It’s a real pity that an artist who had so much to say was not able to give us albums of such a level again during her career. Was producer Glen Ballard indispensable for allowing the songwriter's talent to express itself at its highest levels?