It’s been four years in the works, but pop band Hanson has finally released Underneath on its own label, 3CG. And the trio of singing siblings — guitarist Isaac, 23; keyboardist Taylor, 20; and drummer Zac, 18 — has been getting a “major label” response from radio, video channels and the mainstream media.
  “I can’t tell you how exciting it has been going around and talking about the record,” says Isaac. “The label thing is just a way for us to be true to ourselves on an artistic level and being able to express ourselves, not only through our music, but, hopefully, in the future, help other artists express themselves through their music.”
  The video for the first single, “Penny & Me,” stars actress Samaire Armstong (Anna Stern on the FOX TV series The O.C.), who plays the Penny character. “The mantra of the video is, ‘We’re the music for her; she’s the music for us,’” explains Isaac. “The song is about remembering good times with that loved one, whether it be boyfriend, girlfriend, friend, whatever it is, and that the music and that person is always with you.” And it seems Hanson’s fans are still with them.
          
  Chaos is not a word one would readily associate with Alanis Morissette, who always appears so peaceful, self-aware and in charge, but the Ottawa native has selected So-Called Chaos as the title of her latest album.
  The songs are more streamlined than the ones on her last couple of albums, without compromising her wonderful play with language.
  “There’s a simplicity to them,” Morissette agrees. “It’s almost like I trimmed out all the superfluous things, not to say that they’re gone forever, because they’ll return (laughs) at some point in the future, but I feel like there’s a simplification that happened, not only in my music, but in my life over the past couple of years — whether it’s my closets or whether it’s my schedule or whether it’s my records — that has allowed me a real freedom and peace that I hadn’t had before.”
  While her songs might reveal and unravel and try to make sense of her personal relationships, when it comes to the bigger picture, Morissette endeavours to better herself, and in some way, humanity. Lofty goals perhaps, but she has made a difference, through her charitable and civic-minded work for assorted causes, particularly pertaining to women, children and the environment.

  Ian Thornley has found another way. It’s called Thornley and it’s the band he assembled when Big Wreck broke up.
  Joining Ian for phase two of his career are bassist Ken “The Worm” Tizzard (ex The Watchmen), drummer Sekou Lumumba (Edwin & The Pressure, Jully Black) and newcomer, guitarist Tavis Stanley. Together, they hit the road long before Thornley’s debut, Come Again, was released.
  First, the guys opened arena shows for Nickelback in Canada (frontman Chad Kroeger, a long-time fan and friend of Ian’s, signed Thornley), then supported Three Days Grace in America. With the album now in stores, it follows a Canadian headlining tour with more U.S. dates with 3DG, then Nickelback and Three Doors Down, and later, Finger Eleven. The album features the simply catchy rock single, “So Far So Good,” to the more powerful “The Going Rate (What’s My Fix)” and soaring intensity of “Beautiful,” but the Thornley material certainly isn’t as seemingly complicated as Big Wreck’s.
  “I can always hide behind flash, and I can always hide behind gifts that were given to me before I was even born,” says Ian, an exceptional guitar player. “But I don’t think that connects with people as much as something with a raw nerve, laid out on the table and wrapped in a good hook.”
  It’s no surprise to anyone who saw Avril Lavigne perform live, with her cool, punk-influenced band, that her musical direction has toughened up, since making her 14-million-selling debut, Let Go.
  She describes the new Under My Skin as, “darker, moodier, deeper, more mature.” But it also seems more sensitive too. There’s a song for her grandpa, who passed away while she was on tour, called “Slipped Away” and a “really dark” song called “Nobody’s Home,” about a messed-up girl unable to escape her problems.
  Most of the album was co-written with her new “best friend” Chantal Kreviazuk. Lavigne, who writes on guitar, also got some piano lessons from Kreviazuk, in order to play the parts onstage.
  “If I practice, I can play anything,” she says. “I’m capable of playing the drums, bass, piano and guitar.”
  Lavigne, now 19, is really coming into her own, taking charge of her career, and getting a handle on where she wants to take her music. She has a busy year ahead that includes promo in Europe, Japan, and Australia. “I’ll come back to the States and I’ll have a bunch more promo to do, TV shows and radio shows, and blah blah blah blah blah, and then 2005 will be my headlining tour.”