So-Called Chaos

If you’re a songwriter there are a number of tried and tested topics you can always rely on: love, sex, relationships, drugs, personal experiences, politics, the environment, yourself. If you’re Alanis Morissette (or Eminem) the list becomes significantly shorter: yourself.

There’s no mainstream artist today who exposes her inner thoughts and emotions so directly, honestly, or articulately. Her songs have always sounded like diary entries put to music, in the process turning navel gazing into a career move.

It’s a technique she readily admits to. “So grateful to be able to share this chapter of my life with each of you through these songs,” she writes in the liner notes of her latest album.

And judging from the overall mood of ‘So-Called Chaos’ this chapter in her life is filled with happiness and contentment. Musically it’s her most accessible, uplifting album – the bouncy ‘Excuses’, sunny sitar-flavoured ‘Knees of my bees’, and light as candyfloss ‘Not all me’ sounding like the products of a prozac overdose.

Even the introspective lyrics focus not only on her complexities, fears and insecurities, but also on her hopes, strengths and commitment to self-improvement.

‘Excuses’ finds Alanis trying to overcome the fear of change that has helped her cope but also stunted her personal growth, while ‘Out is through’ reveals her newfound dedication to facing problems head on.

Even the dirge about a grudge she’s held for “14 years 30 minutes 15 seconds” has a chorus filled with hope. The words “I want to forgive for the both of us”, reveal a less vindictive approach to relationships from the woman who gave us the ultimate bad-breakup-song in ‘You oughta know’.

A possible reason for this softening is her current relationship, addressed in lead single ‘Everything’. An open love letter to her boyfriend, it thanks him for accepting her as she is.

What’s far more revealing, though, is the singer’s apparent self-acceptance. On the Eastern influenced ‘Eight easy steps’ Alanis finally seems to be comfortable with who she is, even ridiculing her public persona while teaching listeners how to become like her.

In promising to show “how to hate women when you’re supposed to be a feminist, how to play all pious when you’re really a hypocrite”, she’s not only expressing her new found sense of fun but also underlining the personal complexities and eloquence that are uniquely Alanis Morissette.

This combination, when blended with a strong collection of 11 songs, ensures that ‘So-Called Chaos’ is easily her best album since ‘Jagged Little Pill’.