Alanis Morissette
When: 5th July 2025
Location: OVO Hydro
Alanis Morissette, the multi-platinum selling Canadian singer/songwriter is back. Coming to Glasgow’s OVO Hydro on 5th July 2025.
Alanis Morissette didn’t just sell a shedload of records in the ’90s. Through her stratospheric 1995 album Jagged Little Pill, the Canadian singer/songwriter discovered a mysterious alchemy. With the hyperbole aside, defined the era and tapped into the mood of a generation with laser-guided focus.
Born in Ottawa, Morissette had been a musician since a young age. Joining Canadian kids’ show You Can’t Do That On Television in the ’80s and releasing her debut single aged 10. Two albums following in 1991 and 1992. Both of which were popular in her homeland but had very little impact abroad.
That changed in 1994 when Morissette moved to LA and met producer and songwriter Glen Ballard. The two forged a solid partnership. He steered Morissette away from the pop of her first two albums. He moved her towards a sound that married the angst, grit and confessionalism of alt-rock with giant pop hooks. Off the back of single You Oughta Know, Morissette was already a star by the time Jagged Little Pill hit record shelves in 1995.
A stream of huge singles
A stream of huge singles (One Hand In My Pocket, Ironic, All I Really Want and You Learn) set Jagged Little Pill on a direct route to multi-Platinum sales and a spot in the US top ten for 69 weeks. Countless imitators surfaced; none came close.
Morissette returned with Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie in 1998. While it couldn’t possibly have lived up to its predecessor’s status and hype. It still set records and represented a step forward in craft and production. The following year, Morissette had a cameo as God opposite Matt Damon and Ben Affleck as fallen angels in Kevin Smith’s film Dogma.
After parting ways with Ballard, Morissette released Under Rug Swept, her first post-stardom record written on her own in 2002. That was followed in 2004 by So-Called Chaos, an album notable for shedding her famously acerbic take on relationships and replacing it with a more romantic record, inspired by her engagement to actor Ryan Reynolds. However, the relationship didn’t last, the fallout inspiring her 2008 album Flavours Of Entanglement.
Following 2012’s Havoc And Bright Lights, which relayed a more contented outlook due to her recent marriage and motherhood, Morissette took an extended hiatus, not releasing another album until 2020’s Such Pretty Forks In The Road.
In 2019, Morissette announced a UK tour to mark the 25th anniversary of Jagged Little Pill, however those dates had to be rescheduled due to the Coronavirus pandemic. The tour was later confirmed as being rescheduled to November 2021 with new dates added in Leeds and London.
2022 saw the release of The Storm Before the Calm, Morissette’s tenth studio album, which Clash magazine said is “proof that Alanis Morissette offers more than catchy melodies, clever lyricism and reminding us how ‘life has a funny way of helping you out when you think everything’s gone wrong'”.
In a 2023 interview with Variety, the artist said she would begin working on a new album in 2024. In October 2024, she announced three UK shows for summer 2025: Belfast on 30 June; Cardiff on 2 July; and Glasgow on 5 July.
