Avril Lavigne has obviously heard the cries of me, the resident Debrief Avril fan, begging her to have a big comeback. The Canadian singer, who sparked thousands of teen rebellions in the early 2000s, posted a black-and-white Instagram video yesterday wherein she revealed that she’s signed to BMG Music to release her sixth studio album.
Now, I know what you’re thinking. Sixth? Avril has already had five albums? That can’t possibly be. The most nostalgic of us will only recall that she has had two, three at best, albums. True Avril heads know, though, that she has had two more; the most recent of which, the self-titled Avril Lavigne, was released in 2013. Considering that everything Avril has brought out in the last ten years has been forgettable at best (and Nickelback covers at worst), here’s hoping her new album will be a return to form. Avril told Billboard that the new album will see her, "going back to my roots a little bit”, but not to her mall-crashing roots: “I got my start in church and at country fairs when I was a young child, and I think those earlier influences are definitely coming out now."
Avril was perhaps at her best when she was 17, covered in studs and rallying against authority; but to give her her dues, she’s always been a pretty talented musician. She’s also been through a lot in the last few years, with her diagnosis of Lyme disease, a flagging career, and a divorce or two. Some of her less memorable singles saw her attempting to cling onto her rebellious youth at a time when fighting against her parents was probably the last thing on her mind; if this album lets Avril explore the more adult themes in her life, it could probably actually be pretty good. She told Billboard that, "I challenged myself as a songwriter and I wanted to write about topics I hadn't hit on before," and that she wrote the potential first single, "when I was in bed and literally felt like I was dying... in the midst of feeling so close to death, I came up with one of my most true and moving songs.'
So back off, haters. It might be 15 years since Avril first skateboarded into our lives and stole our hearts, but in that time she’s become something of a punchline in a long-running joke about women only getting one chance to be something - providing it happens before their 25th birthday. Avril is an adult, she’s been through a lot, and I think she’s going to surprise us. But when? Never one to keep to your timetables, she said, 'when it's ready lol. Which will be soon.' 2017 is the year of the pop punk comeback. Mark my words.
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This article originally appeared on The Debrief.