Flavors of Entanglement

Well, goddamn! It finally leaked!

"...I thought I'd take a break from snowboarding in hell to write up a crappy review of this album that I just now listened to for the absolute very first time ever. Because that's the way to properly review a CD: listen to it one time and then act like you know it inside out and insist everyone should respect your opinion like it's printed in the Bible with red ink." *

In my defense, I've listened to the album several times by now. Onward.

Citizen of the Planet: Heard the 30-second Verizon clip last night and was FLOORED, especially because I had absolutely no expectations for this song. And the full-length does not disappoint. The strings are particularly brilliant (the bridge = omg!)

Underneath: I've heard this a million times already and so don't have much to say about it. I like it and I can understand why it was chosen as a single, but my first choice for a single would've been...

Straitjacket: YES. This is the sound I was hoping for. So hot. My favorite song on the album at present. My only criticism is that the distorted vocals at the end are annoying.

Versions of Violence: Leaked earlier, so I've heard it a bunch of times already. I really hate the lyrics for some reason - like, seriously, I have no idea why I dislike them so much, but I do. Thankfully the music and vocals are awesome enough to make up for it. I love how Lani uses her voice here, and the bells.

Not as We: Not drastically different from the House clip that's been around for ages, which is a good thing. I really love this song. Sometimes simple is best! I just wish the chorus weren't too high for me to sing along to.

In Praise of the Vulnerable Man: I am a huge dork, but I just LOVE this, in all its shamelessly poppy glory. It fills me with sugary glee. Thematically it's a lot like A Man, which is bar-none my favorite Lani song, so that's also good. And I love the strings (I think they're strings, they could possibly be synths, I'm a musical retard.)

Moratorium: Also leaked a while ago. More lovely strings. Just loving the strings on this album!! This has also become one of my favorite singalong songs.

Torch: God, this song is depressing. Depressing in that good, beautifully sad way. "I miss your warmth and the thought of bringing up our kids/And the part of you that walks with your stick-tied handkerchief" absolutely kills me. But I kind of wish that this were more string-based and didn't have such an electronic undercurrent.

Giggling Again for No Reason: This is the most Imogen Heap-like song on the album, in my opinion. I could see this being on Speak For Yourself. I really like it. It's nice to hear Alanis do a fun song like this. Also, it's going on my Mario Kart playlist.

Tapes: Only song on the album that I actively dislike. And I must be missing something, because it feels like 95% of people are praising it to Jeebus. I was expecting something more fast-paced. The rest of the album is such lovely, crystalline electro-pop, but Tapes just feels like a murky yellow dirge. (says the synesthete.)

Incomplete: I was really disappointed with both acoustic incarnations of this song, partly because one of the first reviewers hyped it to ridiculous proportions. The studio version is much better, and it works much better in context with the rest of the album as well, which is more than I can say for Tapes. I think this one will grow on me. I do love that some of the guitar bits have the same strummy rainbow quality that I sometimes get from harps.

The Verdict: This is a damn good album. A huge departure for Alanis, but definitely a welcome one! This sound really works for her. And, of course, with Guy Sigsworth at the helm, you've pretty much got it made. If it were up to me, I would replace Tapes with 20/20 (which I LOVE), and I say this knowing that there are still several bonus tracks that have yet to leak that I will probably end up adding to my hypothetical tracklist.

*meathead!