{"id":76587,"date":"2020-09-09T09:00:07","date_gmt":"2020-09-09T14:00:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fordhamram.com\/?p=76587"},"modified":"2020-09-09T11:34:46","modified_gmt":"2020-09-09T16:34:46","slug":"alanis-returns-with-introspective-such-pretty-forks-in-the-roads","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fordhamram.com\/76587\/culture\/alanis-returns-with-introspective-such-pretty-forks-in-the-roads\/","title":{"rendered":"Alanis Returns with Introspective \u2018Such Pretty Forks in The Roads\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

Comparable to a \u201cbig bang\u201d in the music universe, the \u201990s marked a musical renaissance. In this \u201cbig bang\u201d would arrive the creation of a star no one could ever prepare for \u2014 a star so bright, raw and enigmatic that she would command the era of the \u201990s and etch her name emphatically in the constellations of what it meant to be an icon. <\/span><\/p>\n

A mother, mindfulness advocate and still-compelling artist, Alanis Morissette has graced us with a new album, and it is a supernova of astronomical proportions.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSuch Pretty Forks in the Road\u201d sets itself apart from Morissette\u2019s early works like the brazen \u201cJagged Little Pill.\u201d On this album, she fearlessly approaches her own forks in the road. <\/span><\/p>\n

While these challenges certainly were not pretty, the artist\u2019s introspective approach offers the work a beautiful quality.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In an 11-track album, Morissette explores the consequences of fame as a young woman in a male-dominated music industry, dealing with alcoholism, insomnia, mental health, emotional instability and the imminent fear of losing one\u2019s luster as the tides of time crash over an artist. <\/span><\/p>\n

To commence her pilgrimage of pondering, she opens with the ironically named track, \u201cSmiling.\u201d Almost hauntingly, Morissette sings, \u201cThis is a life of extremes \/ Both sides are slippery and enticing \/ These are my places off the rails \/ And this, my loose recollection of a falling \/ I barely remember who I failed \/ I was just trying to keep it together.\u201d These lyrics, married to the light yet powerful strumming of an electric guitar, convey to the listener that Alanis Morissette is no longer the wildfire woman she was, but a star who uses her faults to tell stories unfathomable. This is the approach she takes as she swings and solidly strikes down her inhibitions.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The track \u201cReasons I Drink\u201d epitomizes Morisette\u2019s self-reflection. It oscillates between an upbeat piano tune and Morisette\u2019s banshee voice that holds a bite sharp enough to pierce listeners\u2019 hearts. Delving into why she has taken to the bottle, she sings a verse acknowledging her struggle with alcoholism and how it affects other people besides herself: \u201cThese are the reasons I don\u2019t even think I would quit \/ These are the reasons I can\u2019t even see straight \/ And these are the ones whom I know it so deeply affects \/ And I am left wondering how I would function without it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The subsequent track \u201cDiagnosis\u201d takes a similar trajectory with a much more piano-grounded approach. Serving as a commentary on depression, Morissette acknowledges that no one can truly comprehend the caliber of what depression takes from someone indiscriminate of who they are. <\/span><\/p>\n

With lyrics like, \u201cCall it what you want \/ \u2019Cause I don\u2019t even care anymore \/ Call it what you need to \/ To make yourself comfortable,\u201d Alanis Morissette boldly confronts the detractors of depression, as she exclaims that labels do not matter when facing mental suffering; all people are capable of falling victim to mental illness, and such an acknowledgement could not be truer with present circumstances.<\/span><\/p>\n

However, surely to be a personal favorite for many listeners is \u201cLosing the Plot,\u201d an epic musical composition that ostensibly lulls listeners into a sense of solemn comfort, only to pick up with guitars blaring. It is this track where Morissette truly seems to be in her element, as she attacks headfirst the demons of insomnia and the fear of being forgotten.<\/span><\/p>\n

After singing \u201cwith my relevance in dust,\u201d Morrissette not only harkens back to the chorus but does so with an amplified sense of conviction as electric guitars play a searing symphony. With songs this masterfully crafted, it is quite ironic that Morrissette would be afraid of being forgotten at all.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSuch Pretty Forks in the Road\u201d is a testament to not only the legacy of Alanis Morrissette, but to her renewed sense of direction. By merging introspection, penetrating vocals and sobering sound, Morissette shows that even when in the presence of inner demons, one could address those forks in the road in manners that could be quite pretty.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Comparable to a \u201cbig bang\u201d in the music universe, the \u201990s marked a musical renaissance. In this \u201cbig bang\u201d would arrive the creation of a star no one could ever prepare for \u2014 a star so bright, raw and enigmatic that she would command the era of the \u201990s and etch her name emphatically in…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":76547,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3,10],"tags":[7881,6280,7882],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fordhamram.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76587"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fordhamram.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fordhamram.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fordhamram.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fordhamram.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=76587"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/fordhamram.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76587\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":76701,"href":"https:\/\/fordhamram.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76587\/revisions\/76701"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fordhamram.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/76547"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fordhamram.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=76587"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fordhamram.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=76587"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fordhamram.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=76587"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}