Now engaged to the beautiful Scarlett Johansson,  Ryan Reynolds certainly wasted no time moving on from his breakup with Alanis Morrissette.  One would think that while Reynolds was putting the moves on hot young Hollywood actresses, Alanis would be donning all her rage and meticulously crafting the lyrics for her upcoming album.  However, upon listening to Flavors of Entanglement, I was shocked at how calm and complacent she seemed. 

I purchased the album off of iTunes today, and immediately hopped on the treadmill, ready to get my blood pumping to the tormented tunes of Alanis that I had grown up with (close enough to be on that first name basis); but I seemed to be walking at a slow and steady pace.  As the tracks ended and new ones began to play through the tiny iPod buds in my ears, I eagerly awaited that one breakup song that charges you up, empowers women, breaks the vocal chords, not unlike the classic breakup ballad, "You Oughta Know," off the Jagged Little Pill album.  (The song was written for that hunk of a man, Joey Gladstone from Full House.) 

With no sign of unforgiving bitter words for her broken relationship, Reynolds got off easy.  The haunting track, "Not as We" is the closest Morissette comes to addressing  the hurt, of what we can only assume, is directly related to the split.  Morissette describes the song as being about "hitting rock bottom."  The single to the album, "Underneath," is essentially about barriers and breakdowns in communications.  Rather than anger, this time, Morissette seems to have channeled grief.

The style of this album, compared to her six previous, is unquestionably different.  With a unique blend of techno, hip hop and organic instruments, the different tracks of Flavors are refreshing.  With the exception of "Versions of Violence" which I found to be way too reminiscent of Evanescence, Morissette delivers an original sound with each track. 

The lyrics are beautifully honest.  It is clear that she has let her guard down in a genuine way.   So if you were expecting that ruthless, angry Alanis from the 90s, expect to be disappointed.  She seemed to have really matured with this album, as well as the last, So-called Chaos, focusing on the self rather than directing anger and blame toward the man.  What I got out of Flavors, as opposed to previous Alanis albums, is the notion to accept the things we cannot change and allow yourself to be vulnerable.