Avril Lavigne was the original Punk Pop Queen. Fearless, feisty and perfectly fitting for the early noughties as the manufactured antithesis of Britney and Christina, she was the rebellious antidote alongside the likes of Pink and Gwen Stefani. After a six-year hiatus, a battle with Lyme Disease, a divorce and a new millionaire boyfriend she’s back with what I was hoping would be a new, evolved sound that mirrored the growth from angsty teen sensation to mature female musician, working with her distinctive sound and vocal prowess.
Her new album is capped up with a strong piano ballad, the title track “Head Above Water”, which looks like a shift into realms of real life. It talks of struggles with her health maybe, or getting through a difficult time. It has a powerful melody, is emotionally charged and sounds grown-up. But what comes next is a re-visit of tunes about teenage issues, called things like “Crush”, “Bigger Wow”, “Souvenir” and “Love Me Insane”. Many of the tracks – epitomised by “Tell Me It's Over” – are the kind of songs that you will grow out of by the time you're 18. Which in a sense is fine – “Dumb Blonde”, which is too close to Gwen Stefani’s "Hollaback Girl" for my liking, is the kind of song I’d be happy for my nine-year-old to learn as a fun feminist tome and yell at boys in the playground.
But Lavigne is almost 34. When will her sound grow up? “Souvenir” and “Bigger Wow” have the old “he-yeah-a-yeah” motif and the second song contains the lines “Just like kites, unafraid of those heights, 'Cause sooner or later, I just want a bigger wow, I'm not complaining, If you throw me up, I won't come down”, by which point I am laughing out loud.
I had hoped “Goddess” and “Warrior” – yogic and powerful as they sound – would develop on a theme of self-understanding and fulfilment, but the first is screechy syncopation about how she is treated by a man and the second, while perhaps one of her most authentic to date, still lacks in depth.
Perhaps my expectations were too high – after all, this is someone whose last album, written at the age of 29, had a lead single called "Here’s To Never Growing Up". But I am left feeling like I too, had wanted “A Bigger Wow”.