Personnel: Ben Tolliday (guitar); Andy Page (acoustic guitar, electric guitar, E-bow, synthesizer, bass synthesizer, drum programming); Guy Sigsworth (E-bow, strings, piano, prepared piano, celesta, electric piano, organ, keyboards, synthesizer, bass synthesizer, tabla, triangle, tubular bells, sound effects, background vocals); Jess Sutcliffe (strings); Jared Nugent (piano); Billy Bush, Blair Sinta (drums); Sean McGhee (background vocals).
Audio Mixers: Andy Bradfield; Andy Page.
Recording information: Frou Frou Central, London, England; The Village Studio Recorders, Los Angeles, CA.
Photographers: Heather Heron; Frank Maddocks; Alanis Morissette.
Arrangers: Fiora Cutler; Guy Sigsworth.
Four full years after 2004's SO-CALLED CHAOS, Canadian pop star Alanis Morissette finally returned with a new studio album, FLAVORS OF ENTANGLEMENT. While the former outing was informed by the ever-confessional performer's romance with Hollywood actor Ryan Reynolds, this '08 offering deals with the dissolution of that relationship, particularly on the piano ballad "Not As We" and the wistful techno track "Moratorium." The latter tune, like much of FLAVORS, is shaped considerably by U.K. producer Guy Sigsworth, who is best known for aiding Bjork with her icy electro arrangements. The chilly keyboard-laden atmosphere is an appropriate change given Morissette's post-breakup preoccupations, but the record is far from club-friendly--in fact, the guitar-heavy opener, "Citizens of the Planet" sounds like the singer is sitting in on a Korn tune, and the driving "Underneath" features chiming melodies that wouldn't be out of place on a Coldplay album. Although some fans might be initially bewildered by the sonic changes on ENTANGLEMENT, Morissette's signature voice and lyrics keep the album from being a drastic departure, allowing her to grieve for a lost love while expanding her musical palette.
Professional Reviews
Rolling Stone (p.86) - 3.5 stars out of 5 -- "[W]ith a vaguely New Age grandeur -- electro beats, Eastern percussion, orchestral arrangements -- amping up the drama....Morrisette is at her best on simple ballads like 'Not As We'...and the emotionally raw 'Torch'..."
Entertainment Weekly (p.68) - "[H]er most affecting moment may be the most stripped-down. A barely there piano is all the accompaniment needed on the broken, fragile ballad 'Not as We'..." -- Grade: B+
Blender (Magazine) (p.74) - 3 stars out of 5 -- "Morissette vents with some of her old flair: 'In Praise of the Vulnerable Man' has the squirm power that's her greatest strength, as Sigworth's beats help her lift the melody out of the emotional duldrums."
