Yes, that’s right. You heard me.
Avril Lavigne has a new album coming out next week. It’s called Avril Lavigne. Where’d she come up with that name? I don’t know, but it has a nice ring to it.
You probably haven’t noticed (neither has the majority of the population), but Avril’s been churning out singles over the past year, including “Here’s To Never Growing Up,” “Rock N Roll” and, unfortunately, her duet with Nickelback frontman/husband Chad Kroeger, “Let Me Go.” But forget that one — it’s the weakest song on the entire set.
Avril’s album is seriously good, y’all. It’s a genuinely solid pop record — and one of the best pop offerings of 2013. Once you get past the fact that she adamantly refuses to be anything else than her eyeliner wearin’, SK8R BOI-lovin’ self from 2002 (which I’d love to unpack in the formal review in the next few weeks), there’s nothing not to love.
It’s so much fun, seriously — “17,” for instance, is the “Teenage Dream” of 2013. It’s a perfect us-against-the-world, drive-into-the-sunset record. (That is not to be confused with Sky Ferreira‘s “24 Hours,” which I consider my dark, beautiful twisted fantasy version of “Teenage Dream.”) There’s “Bad Girl” with Marilyn Manson, the fiery heavy metal stripper anthem you never knew you were missing. There’s the anthemic “Hello Heartache,” which plays like the older, more heartbroken sister to “Complicated.” There’s “Hello Kitty, which unexpectedly unearths Gwen Stefani‘s Love. Angel. Music. Baby. and showcases an Avril gone briefly EDM. And there’s the gloomy “Give You What You Like,” which delivers on Avril’s best strength — bleary-eyed, broken balladry. (Actually, all the ballads are the best.)
Listen now at iTunes. To quote Avril, I like it better than the hipster bullshit.
‘Avril Lavigne’ will be released on November 5. (iTunes)
