Alanis Morissette's Love Letter to Self: Havoc and Bright Lights Review

I'll admit: an artist of Alanis Morissette's caliber is hard to write about because, for me, she resonates with me on such a raw emotional level, that it's hard to separate her art from my reality.

(There are few artists who have this effect on me. Plus, she's legendary, so I srsly don't wanna eff this up.)

That said, here goes: My relationship with Alanis's music, for the most part, has probably been like most. Her 1995 blockbuster debut Jagged Little Pill, in all its angst-ridden, navel-gazing glory was one of the albums that defined my early-to-mid adolescence. And anyone who's ever felt even remotely screwed over could relate to "You Oughta Know," which is likely proven by the many folks who've squawked those lyrics in karaoke bars across America.

Aside from Jagged Little Pill, Alanis has always exemplified what it means to be an "artist in the public eye." She's had high-profile celebrity relationships (and tabloid-sized breakups); performed to packed arenas worldwide; and sold literally a bajillion albums. And yet, Alanis's head has always tilted skyward, her focus intensely inward with songs that delve deep into the personal and spiritual realms within (and outside of) ourselves.

For me, her power as an artist hit critical mass with 2008's Middle Eastern folktronica-spiced Flavors of Entanglement. That album, about lost love and self-discovery, came out on the eve of a close friend's untimely death, and there are elegiac songs that literally matched the grief I experienced ("Tapes," "Not As We," "Madness").

And now, with Havoc and Bright Lights, her eighth album, Alanis sounds more clear-eyed and happier than ever. It's almost like a companion piece to Flavors of Entanglement; on that album's closer, "Incomplete," she ponders life with a family: "I'll be married with children and maybe adopt." Havoc is like a vision realized. (Her baby boy with husband-rapper Mario "MC Souleye" Treadway was born on Christmas Day two years ago.) Exhibit A: "Guardian," the album's anthemic first single, pulses with warmth and an energy that's downright inspiring. It's great to hear Alanis, after all these years, sound so positively refreshed. The (literally, divine) video, below!