Ah, fame, and its destructive side effects. You know, like the high likelihood that you'll go stark raving bonkers. Off the rails, round the bend and down the plughole, it happens to the best of them and Alanis is a paid up member of the club.
Even considering her child star career and already 'kooky' personality, the 28 million selling 'Jagged Little Pill' defined a genre but sent poor Alanis cuckoo. Its follow up 'Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie' baffled practically everyone. Alanis looked washed up at just 24 but more tragically for her, a laughing stock.
Three years later and her marbles are back in order and her song writing proficiency and way with words, if not at their peak, then pretty bloody close. Crucially 'Under Rug Swept' will restore her credibility and appears to be the sound of an artist more at ease (well as much as Alanis can be) with her music and, y'know, life in general. It's also mercifully concise, erasing the obvious failing of her second album - over long songs, meandering lyrics and a general lack of substance.
'Under Rug Swept' unloads the full compliment of Alanis' astute observations. Unsurprisingly, she's still venting her frustrations against men and their collective deficiencies. This time, however, her sentiments appear less bitter. Her sharp tongue's still there ("you go back to the woman that will dance your dance/you go back to people who will lick your arse") but rather than sensing an imminent breakdown, she employs a mature, retrospective, often conversational, manner.
Being unloved ('So Sexy'), sexual naivety ('Hands Clean') and masculine weakness ('Narcissus') are all present and correct. Musically, Alanis has never struggled to hold the attention. Opener '21 Things' places abrasive guitars at the fore; 'Flinch' washes around your head - at first aimlessly but later seductively - and 'Precious Illusions' confirms that, as a songwriter, Alanis is only getting better.
She'll never scale the same commercial heights again but she might just regain her respectability. One step at a time but at least Alanis is back on course and heading in the right direction. Now all she has to do is stay there.
