USA TODAY International Edition
Morissette has a ‘ haunting moment’ with ‘ Pretty Forks’
Alanis Morissette has moved on from Hollywood.
The Grammy- winning singer and mother of three children left behind the nation’s entertainment hub in favor of northern California, saying she felt disenchanted.
“Being a woman in her mid- 40s in LA, it’s a city that really celebrates women ages 17 to 29,” Morissette, 46, told USA TODAY. “After that, there’s some really reductive views.”
Morissette, who has never been shy about sharing her feelings in her music, says the decision to relocate influenced some of the tracks on her latest album, “Such Pretty Forks in the Road,” which drops Friday. Portions of the album four years in the making were recorded in Los Angeles, while others came after the move.
The tracks on “Such Pretty Forks in the Road” are raw and vulnerable – exactly what we expect from Morissette, a performer who first made it big 25 years ago with “Jagged Little Pill,” an album that sold more than 16 million copies in the U. S., according to the Recording Industry Association of America, and included “You Oughta Know” and “Ironic.” Her voice and point of view are stronger than ever.
“This record was a giant haunting moment,” Morissette says. “Every single song haunts me in some way.”
Take “Reckoning,” a single that made its debut earlier this month, for instance: “Hey, hey, little wonder/ You walked the fields with all the fences down/ You never knew the scent of the predator/ You didn’t know the house was on fire/ And so you worked as you should/ While they prey’d on all you ached for/ And they pounced as they would/ While the guards were away, oh.”
“Such Pretty Forks in the Road” arrives three months later than its originally scheduled May 1 debut. Morissette has no doubt pushing the release was the right call. It’s a decision numerous other artists have made as well.
“It felt really counterintuitive to be putting anything out,” she says. “It was like, ‘ Do they really want to hear some brunette girl from Ottawa, Canada, share her crises?’ ”
Among the issues Morissette has faced in recent years are an extended bout with postpartum depression and having her former business manager Jonathan Todd Schwartz steal approximately $ 5 million from her. He was convicted and sentenced to six years in federal prison.
Morissette used music as a refuge from her stressors, describing this album as “a direct snapshot of this period of time. Every record I’ve ever written has been a photograph of the time.”
With “Such Pretty Forks in the Road” complete and touring out of the question right now, Morissette plans to turn her attention to a number of other projects, including a book she’s been toying with for nearly 20 years, reinvigorating her podcast and possibly even a meditation record.
During the coronavirus pandemic, Morissette has been hunkered down at home with her family.
“I’m doing really well, all things considered,” she says. “One minute I’m loving the intimacy with my family and then 10 minutes later I’m in a full panic attack. Everyone’s being asked right now to define who they are and what matters most.”
Morissette, like countless other Americans, has been busy homeschooling her children. Often, she says, she feels defeated.
“Being a mom ... it is a really gorgeous and daunting and terrifying and sacred role,” she said. “I look at all three of them and say, ‘ Wow, I’m responsible for them.’ “
A self- described perfectionist, Morissette says she often has to remind herself that “doing good enough is fine.”