CD Review: Alanis Morissette

Havoc and Bright Lights (Collective Sounds/Sony RED)

By Michael Gallucci on Wed, Aug 29, 2012 at 4:00 am

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Alanis Morissette doesn't really sound like she's into giving blowjobs in public places these days. In fact, she sounds content to just stay home and enjoy her relative serenity. On her seventh album, and first in four years, she's fully recovered from the breakup that fueled most of 2008's Flavors of Entanglement. She's married and a mom now, and those new life roles inform Havoc and Bright Lights. On the opening "Guardian," Morissette sings "I'll be your warrior of care/I'll be your angel on call" like she's her family's knight in shining armour. And on the ballad "'Til You," she's the swooning princess: "I've been taking notes, nursing the thought of you." Morissette and producer Guy Sigsworth mostly keep the music on the tougher side, with crunchy-guitar choruses pushed to the red. They stumble a little, but Havoc is filled with some jagged little thrills.