Alanis Morrisette: I had ?an experimental stage where I was loving women up?

34 year-old rocker Alanis Morissette has a new interview in People Magazine in which she gives some pretty candid answers about her life. She won't go into specifics about who the songs are about on her latest album, but says that "some are obvious." Morissette sounds happy and at peace with things and although she doesn't talk about her current boyfriend she does talk about how she "was loving women up" when she was in her 20s, calling it "an experimental stage."

THINKING BACK TO YOUR KISS WITH SARAH JESSICA PARKER IN SEX AND THE CITY, DID YOU EVER THINK, "SCREW MEN, I'M GOING TO DATE A WOMAN"?
Yeah! I went through my experimental stage in my 20s where I was loving women up. I actually think it's a rite of passage, [but] there's some great growth and healing for me in dating a man.

TELL US ABOUT THE NEW MAN IN YOUR LIFE.
Everything is slower and much gentler. Really it's less about who shows up and more about where I am.

YOU'RE 34. DO YOU STILL WANT KIDS?
I always imagined having kids in my late 30s. I'm in no rush.

THERE'S BEEN SOME SCRUTINY ABOUT YOUR WEIGHT LATELY. HAVING MOVED PAST YOUR BULIMIA AND ANOREXIA SUCCESSFULLY?
I know a lot of people - because I had a record out at 19 - are used to one thing. I feel very feminine and comfortable in my own body, but I have to stop taking feedback.

[From People Magazine, print edition, July 28, 2008, via ONTD]

There's a real theme of taking it easy and taking time to heal in this interview, and Alanis seems to come back to those subjects often. The changes in the artist are also reflected in her music. She said that her music is softer and more sensitive now because she deliberately worked on not writing angry songs and not being upset in general:



YOU REALLY GOT IN TOUCH WITH YOUR SENSITIVE SIDE ON THESE SONGS
Anger is so easy for me. Not immediately going to rage was huge. I eventually hot there. [laughs] I don't write for the sake of revenge. If I wanted to seek revenge I could come up with a lot of sh**ty things.

I like how she said that the public has expectations of her body size based on knowing her for 15 years and that she's not the same person she was then. She's not angry or super skinny anymore and she seems really content with that.

Morissette is about halfway through writing a memoir that focuses on challenges that women face. It will feature chapters that cover themes such as sexuality, self image and relationships. I wonder if she'll tell any good stories about her "experimental phase," as she puts it.

Alanis' new album "Flavors of Entanglement" is not doing that well on the charts. It's number 58 on the Billboard 200 after five weeks and has sold about 270,00 copies.

Alanis is shown shopping in Cologne, Germany on 7/10/08. Credit: WENN. She is also shown performing in London on 6/19/08. Credit: WENN/Ben Yacobi