Avril Lavigne definitely sees rock ‘n roll in her future. Just check out her new song.
Lavigne, who will be 29 in September, says she is all about putting “a middle finger to the sky and let ’em know that we’re still rock ‘n’ roll.”
On the down side, the tune just can’t shake the sugar-pop sound of Max Martin, who produced the record. He’s best known for his work with Britney Spears and Katy Perry, two pop princesses that Lavigne would rather not be lumped in with.
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The problem with “Rock N Roll” is there’s not enough “rock” to keep her old fans happy and there’s too little “pop” to win new, younger fans who are hooked on the dance beats of Selena Gomez, Miley Cyrus and Rihanna.
Still, it’s a competent song, and Lavigne is talented. If she can find a niche she’s comfortable with, she just may be able to pull it together. Rock seems to be the right direction, because she really has nowhere else to go.
Why she went with Martin, however, is a bit of a mystery. He last worked with her on her 2011 album Goodbye Lullaby, which was a sonic mess and barely sold a million copies. That’s certainly not shabby, but sales paled in comparison with her three previous albums.
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Let Go, Under My Skin and The Best Damn Thing were all multi-platinum albums, with Under My Skin, selling more than 10 million albums.
So she’s her own tough act to follow.
Interestingly, Lavigne took a bit of a gamble by starting a Twitter campaign. She said she would release the song, only if fans made the hashtag #UnlockRockNRoll trend on the social network. Fortunately, the came through. It could have been disastrous otherwise.
Her tough skater-girl image and hard, guitar-driven rock sound captured the ethos of the burgeoning teen skateboard culture. Like her, though, they’re all pushing 30 now. Question is do they still like to party all night when they’ve got kids and a mortgage?
The album is slated for release in September. Check out the tune below, let us know your thoughts and follow TheImproper on Twitter for the latest music updates.