Avril Lavigne returns in good mood

(Reuters)
Updated: 2007-03-05 14:21
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Lavigne worked with a host of producers, including husband and Sum 41 leader Deryck Whibley, Rob Cavallo (Green Day, Goo Goo Dolls) and previous collaborator Butch Walker. But the name that sticks out is Dr Luke, who turned Kelly Clarkson into a Lavigne-inspired rocker with smash Since U Been Gone, and is working on the new Britney Spears album.

Avril Lavigne returns in good mood
Add the fact that a heavy marketing component for Best Damn Thing centers on a multiplatform, Japanese-style comic book/mobile initiative, and it's easy to get the impression that Lavigne is aiming to once again win over the youth market.

That may very well be the hope of her label. But if the 22-year-old sounds like a kid again on Best Damn Thing, she said it's only because she realized that having fun is more important than maturing.

"My favorite stuff to play live has always been Sk8er Boi and He Wasn't, the faster songs," Lavigne said. "When I was on tour, I realized I need to write more of this kind of stuff. Those songs come alive onstage, and I feel like that's the most me."

SPEAKING TEENS' LANGUAGE

When Lavigne released her first album in June 2002, she was the punk rock face for the teen pop craze popularized by the likes of Spears and Christina Aguilera. Lavigne came complete with an identifiable fashion accessory - a T-shirt and a tie - and became a rock 'n' roll star for a youth market that hadn't yet outgrown the mall and hadn't yet bought into the Warped tour.

Lavigne's Sk8er Boi hit No. 1 on Billboard's top 40 chart in October 2002. The song beat out offerings from such larger-than-life celebrities as Justin Timberlake, Eve and Nelly, and stood out because it spoke the same language as its 16-year-old audience.

Let Go positioned Lavigne as a readily approachable, easily relatable artist. She was a little girl from Napanee, Canada, who cut grass for cash in My World, and she opened the album by declaring that she "sometimes gets so weird" she freaks herself out.

When Lavigne re-emerged on the pop music landscape late last year with Keep Holding On, a prom theme-type ballad from family fantasy flick Eragon, she appeared to be settling into adulthood. The song is having its biggest success on adult contemporary radio.

Lavigne had reservations about releasing the relatively mellow Keep Holding On as a single.

"A lot of people have come up to me and said, 'Oh, I heard your single from your new album,"' Lavigne said. "I'm like, 'That's not my single.' I totally get offended. Girlfriend is like totally crazy, and I'm dying for that song to come out."

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