Alanis Morissette is feeling a little more appreciated as a woman these days, and her new album, "Havoc and Bright Lights," is a reflection of that.

"(There's) the whole shifting of the misogynistic, chauvinistic, patriarchal thing into what this new climate is slowly becoming, which is the celebration of the alpha-empowered woman," she said of today's culture. "There's a new climate that I'm noticing, I don't know if you are, of women just being loved and respected and honored in a way that even 10 years (ago) I didn't notice."

Her new outlook may also be due in part to her role as a mother: She and her husband, Soul Eye, had son, Ever, in December 2010, and the Grammy winner says that becoming a parent has been a "head and heart spinner" for her: "I always wanted it, but I didn't know the degree to which it would heal."

AP: You now have your own family. What has that experience meant to you?

Morissete: I have a song (on the album) for my husband called "Til You" and it's the whole idea of how excited I am that I met someone who shares enough of the same values as me that we can do it together. I talk about my son and husband in the chorus and the verse is really about me seeing I can't take care of my son if I don't take care of myself. I could get away with not taking care of myself as a bachelorette but as a mom I can't.

AP: How did you learn that?

Morissette: I learned it postpartum because there was no way I could do attachment parenting, breast feeding, nurture my marriage ... have the bandwidth to keep all that going without learning how to heal my own relationship with myself.

AP: You're on social media, but are you addicted?

Morissette: No, but it's inspiring. The challenge for me is to have an experience that isn't filtered through the mindset of, "Should I put this on my website, should I tweet this?" Can I just have an experience that is not tweeting?

AP: What do you think when you see old videos of yourself from the "Jagged Little Pill" days?

Morissette: I think, "She's cute -- nice hair, she looks a little greasy." (laughs). She's like a little sister almost.