Avril Lavigne has dabbled in quite a few different genres ever since her debut album Let Go came out almost 20 years ago, but the singer has described her upcoming seventh studio album as "pure rock 'n' roll."

"I really went back to what sounds I originally was influenced by at the beginning of my career. To the core, I'm a kid from a small town who listened to bands like Blink-182 and Green Day and NOFX in high school, and I tapped into that," Lavigne told NME.

Although she's gone back to her roots, don't expect to hear ballads like "I'm With You" on the new album. "This time I just wanted to have fun and rock out. It just felt like it was time to make this type of an album," she added.

The pop-punk rocker started working on the album in November of 2020 with Goldfinger's John Feldmann, and she recruited some of her contemporaries to help her out, one of which was Travis Barker, who played on her 2007 release The Best Damn Thing. 

"I was just like, 'Let's make a pop-punk record.' We used live guitars and live drums and didn't hold back, and just got to do exactly what I wanted and what I feel like I've probably wanted to do for a long time," she further explained of the record's sound, noting that she didn't want to adhere to expectations for radio success. "Back to live drums, electric distorted guitars. It's fast. It's fun. It's just pure rock 'n' roll from front to back."

As far as subject matter goes, Lavigne said that the new set of songs reflects a lot upon her previous relationships and love life, but in a fun and light-hearted way.

"My message is know who you are and trust who you are. A lot of these songs are about having the strength to walk away if someone doesn't see that. I wanted to make sure I wrote music that people could relate to. It's about valuing yourself and knowing you're enough. It's really a love letter to women," she admitted.

Several collaborations will appear on the new album, including a track with Machine Gun Kelly, Willow Smith and Blackbear.

"Pop-punk feels more popular than it's ever been, in a way. it's kind of like a soundtrack to our youth," she states. "These days there's so many cool, different collaborations, and it bridges the gap between then and now. On my record, I'm working with some bands that have been around for a while and then also some artists that are having their big moment now."

While the singer confessed she's going back-and-forth with the title right now, she anticipates it'll be out at the top of 2022. Later in the year, she'll be hitting the road with grandson for a tour in Canada. See the dates here.

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