Alanis Morissette Gets Dancey and Personal on Next LP, Plots Next “Humps”-Like Parody
Alanis Morissette is back in the studio working on Flavors of Entanglement, her first new studio album since 2004’s So-Called Chaos. A lot has happened in the interim — including a well-publicized split with her fiancee, actor Ryan Reynolds — and yes, in addition to more vast political concerns, she’s talking about her life on the album. “Writing about my own personal relationships is my favorite thing to do ’cause it’s the only thing I can really comment on with any kind of conviction or authority,” she says. “I guess I could have fictionalized this whole record, but that wouldn’t have been fun for me.”
While Flavors maintains some of So-Called‘s buoyant sound, according to Morissette, “There’s a nice cross-section on this one. There’s so much joy and levity — and then there’s kind of rock bottom, ‘Holy shit, I am a broken woman’ moment.” Morissette tapped Guy Sigsworth (the former Frou Frou member who’s worked with Seal, Bjork and Madonna) as a co-writer, with hopes of expanding her sound. “I think there’s more technological aspects to it on a sonic level than ever before,” Morissette tells Rolling Stone. “I love to dance so there’s a lot of loops and beats on this record where you can dance your face off.”
Among the songs making the cut are “Underneath,” which deals with communication breakdowns, and “Not As We” (“You know how you can resist hitting rock bottom for a long time? That song just goes ‘ok, I’m going. All the way down’ “). And even though it (accidentally) got her a whole heap of attention, don’t expect the album to feature Alanis’ hilariously mournful version of the Black Eyed Peas’ “My Humps.” “The law is such that whenever I think no one’s going to give a shit, sometimes, they do. And vice versa, by the way,” she says.
The singer does admit her days of covering nonsensical songs are far from over — but she won’t reveal her next target. “There’s a few songs that have been cracking me up lately that I might have to dabble in,” she says. “Let’s just say [one of them] has to do with misogyny. And I don’t even know the title of the song so I’m not even withholding. I gotta find out and interpret it probably within the next couple weeks.” The Canadian songstress anticipates finishing the album within the same window, and then shifting her focus to some upcoming film projects, like her role in the adaptation of Philip K. Dick’s Radio Free Albemuth, as well as working on a book.