After a three year hiatus, one of the most celebrated female singer/songwriters of the late nineties has returned to the musical stage with an album that not just defines the future of female pop, but also makes up for the not-so-good effort that was Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie and the downright horrible effort that was Alanis Unplugged.

Instead of getting stuck in this downward spiral, Alanis has taken the time off and spent it wisely in reevaluating her core elements, weaknesses and strengths. The result, Under Rug Swept is impressive, to say the least. Opening with the hitsong-to-be "21 Things", we see an Alanis that manages to recapture what made Jagged Little Pill such an excellent album: her personal yet blunt lyrics, her ability to cram too many words in one sentence, her ability to write songs that are catchy and well-structured... Even though the album is not as well-balanced as JLP, songs like "Flinch", "So Unsexy", "That Particular Time" and "A Man" prove that Alanis has matured vocally, discovered her limitations.

A real weakness is not present in this album, but there are some unfortunate decisions however. The most obvious one concerning the backing chorus on "Narcissus", which is just downright horrible, another one the cliche keyboards on "You Owe Me Nothing". Another decision which some people might find unfortunate is that Alanis didn`t write a lot of songs that have much `hit`-potential on this album. The songs are too constant and perhaps unsurprising to make it into the charts.

With Under Rug Swept, Alanis Morissette has for once proved not to fall in the categorie of singers who disappear into oblivion after one album or hitsong. Alanis is definately here to stay, and I can honestly say I`m looking forward in seeing her perform live.