Chaotic Maturity

In my review of Alanis Morissette’s Under Rug Swept, I called it the self-empowering older sister of an angst-ridden adolescent (Jagged Little Pill) and a pensively cynical teen (Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie). If this is true, Morissette’s latest, So-Called Chaos, is no doubt the matured version of all of the above.While in previous albums Morissette was at first defiant, then unconfident, Chaos finds the mean path with an attitude that conveys a feeling of self-confidence while remaining aware of the presence of doubt – unindulged as it may be. Not that the album sounds wizened, quite the opposite. It is far more playful than any of her others. The title track is a wistful wishing song planted firmly in a solid rock sound. Though Morissette claims “I want to be naked running through the streets /…/ I want to be weightless flying through the air,” it is in that post-college rebellious-against-the-real-world sense.

That’s not to say this album is for every fan of cathartic pop/rock. As Morissette has matured her sound, she has also grown into her voice and her style so much so that it takes a true fan of her brand of music to enjoy this album. No longer will you hear powerful catchy tunes on the radio that can’t be placed, these songs are signature Morissette, and with her self-empowered lyrics, it’s doubtful she has any qualms with that.

Perhaps Morissette says it best herself when she confirms both the experience and the hard work it took to get here: “I’ve been doing research for years / I’ve been practicing my ass off.”