Alanis Morissette Pens New Song for ‘Dogma’
Canadian singer/songwriter also has role in fall film; plans autobiographical scrapbook, screenplay.
Senior Writer Gil Kaufman reports:
With a new song, a planned book and screenplay, and even a part in an upcoming movie, there should be no doubt Alanis Morissette is back with a vengeance.
Before issuing last year’s Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie, the Canadian singer/songwriter took a year off following almost two years of touring behind her multiplatinum Jagged Little Pill.
But now she’s back at work: Morissette will make her feature film debut in the fall with a cameo role in “Dogma.” She also has written a song for the film directed by Kevin Smith (“Clerks,” “Chasing Amy”).
Seated in her backstage trailer before performing at the July 23-25 Woodstock ’99 festival, Morissette said she recorded the new song, “Still,” at Abbey Road Studios, and that it “got me really excited about the next record.”
“Still” will mark the second year in a row Morissette has debuted a new song in a film. Last year’s “City of Angels” included her Grammy-winning ballad “Uninvited” (RealAudio excerpt).
Also percolating, Morissette said, are a screenplay and an as-yet-untitled scrapbook for fans.
“I’m … always writing words, whether they wind up being poetry or lyrics, diary entries or garbage material,” Morissette said. “The book, thus far, is kind of a scrapbook of sorts with revelations and stories and journal entries and questions and photos. … It’ll come out at some point” (RealAudio excerpt of interview).
Seated with her legs tucked under her, surrounded by brightly colored tapestries draped over a couch and lining the walls and ceiling of her trailer, Morissette – a former child actress who starred in the Nickelodeon show “You Can’t Do That on Television” in the mid-’80s – also revealed that she’s been working on a script for a feature film.
“It will be made into a movie at some point,” Morissette said of her screenplay. “The theme is the inner workings of a relationship without glossing over the intricacies of it, which I love to do.”
But first up is her role in Smith’s already controversial “Dogma,” in which the singer plays God.
Asked how one prepares for such a demanding role, Morissette said the only way she knew how to get psyched up was not to prepare at all. “Kevin Smith and I both believe that God is us,” Morissette said. “So there’s really no preparation needed. It’s really small, it’s a small role.”
Morissette, who directed the video for the latest single from Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie, “So Pure” (RealAudio excerpt), said she got the role after years of building a mutual admiration society with Smith.
“I just think he’s brilliant, and he was very supportive of me,” Morissette said. “[We] met a few years ago and he showed me his script for ‘Dogma.’ [He] had invited me to take part in it with him when I first got off the road for Jagged Little Pill. But I was so burnt out that I didn’t think I’d be of much value to him. But once I’d rejuvenated a year later, he had that cameo role still left” (RealAudio excerpt of interview).
After a two-album Canadian career as a teen pop star, Morissette smashed through in the United States in 1995 with the explicit single “You Oughta Know,” from the 25 million-selling Jagged Little Pill. Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie took a more introspective and spiritual tone, with such songs as “Thank U” (RealAudio excerpt).
Prior to the release of “Dogma,” Morissette will hit the road with fellow singer/songwriter Tori Amos for a co-headlining tour called the 5 1/2 Weeks Tour. The outing kicks off Aug. 18 in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., at the NCR Arena.
The tour is being co-sponsored by MP3.com, a website that offers downloads of music in near-CD-quality form, and retailer Best Buy.
“Bringing two visions together to make one show can be tricky,” Amos said in a statement announcing the tour, “so obviously it takes a lot of mutual respect and a load of gear. With that in mind, Alanis and I are bringing two trucks just for ourselves: one filled with wine, the other filled with lip gloss.”
Touring with Amos was a priority for Morissette, she said, because she sensed the two might have common ground. “Obviously we’re both different artists,” Morissette said, “but I can understand the place that her music comes from. And I very much respect her.”
Very cool news indeed! We’re big fans of Alanis’ work, and can’t wait to hear the new tune. Maybe we can even premiere a snippet for ya here at the site once we catch wind of it. At this point now, Alanis is really the only artist that’s been CONFIRMED as appearing on the soundtrack (along with rumors that a new Beastie Boys track would be along for the ride, as well). Kinda scares us a little for a flick that’s supposed to be out in just a little over 2 months, but hey, maybe it’s all just part of the secrecy…
