With visceral and poetic hits like “Ironic” and “You Oughta Know,” Alanis Morissette has long been known for her autobiographical, emotionally charged lyrics. Havoc and Bright Lights, the 38-year-old Canadian songstress’s eighth studio album, is no exception. The LP is packed with material that draws inspiration from her recent marriage to Mario Treadway, better known from his Boston rapping career as MC Souleye, and her experience with motherhood. But while the album explores new themes in the maturing singer’s life, Havoc is also retrospective, paying ample tribute to the her tumultuous rise to fame that began with 1995’s chart-topping Jagged Little Pill.
From the first track, “Guardian,” Morissette proves that any subject is fair game on the album, as she croons about finding happiness in the wake of her broken engagement to Ryan Reynolds. This thank-you to those who helped her through an emotional roller coaster alternates between a distorted, electric guitar-driven chorus and softer, piano-backed verses which, when combined with Morissette’s effortless vocal transitions to match the instrumentation, relay a heartfelt message of loyalty and commitment.
Later tracks “Empathy” and “Til You” echo the album opener’s sentimentality, but tackle it from a poppier perspective. Simple piano chords and melodies powered by an electric drumbeat allow Morissette to showcase her signature mezzo-soprano vocals, which charge otherwise uninspiring lyrics with the same vibrant emotion.
Despite overflowing gratitude and joy, past pain also makes an appearance on Havoc. “I still have moments of PTSD,” Morissette told Niagara Falls Review regarding the unexpected and stressful popularity of Jagged Little Pill and the resulting world tour. The scars of her self-prescribed trauma bare all in “Celebrity,” which chronicles the mesmerizing and destructive power of fame in a Lana Del Rey-esque vocal style that tackles sex, desire, and a manufactured image: “I am a tattooed sexy dancing monkey,” sings Morissette. The result is a hypnotic, synth-laced track that expertly conveys a feeling of powerlessness and despair as potent as the ecstasy winding through the aforementioned songs.
Havoc and Bright Lights “is my emotional, psychological, social, and philosophical commentary through song,” Morissette explained in a press release. A lesser artist would have uttered such words in vain, but Morissette’s command of emotion in both vocal and instrumental form guarantees her continued, yet sometimes “Ironic”, success.
Voice’s Choices: “Woman Down,” “Guardian”
