Three years after releasing Head Above Water, Avril Lavigne returns with a new album that makes us feel like we’re back in the early 2000s.
Avril Lavigne shows growth and more maturity in her seventh studio album Love Sux. But her new tracks still remind us of some of her classic songs like “Sk8er Boi” and “Complicated” given the dominating presence of drums and electric guitar.
Love Sux takes us on an emotional rollercoaster, as if the album was written and produced after a breakup, with the intention to show the raw emotions and stages Lavigne went through to process it. This can be heard in the title track, with lyrics like “Na-na-na, not another breakup” and “Lying in my bed, thinking love sucks.”
The album starts off on an angry and almost sarcastic note. This is heard in “Bite Me,” in which Lavigne sings “You should’ve known better, better to f*ck with someone like me” and “Forever and ever you’re gonna wish I was your wifey.” The record calms down sonically on the fourth track, “Love It When You Hate Me,” with the sarcasm stapling in as a common theme again with the following track “Love Sux.”
Lavigne introduces a much slower beat in the second-to-last track of the album “Dare To Love Me,” making it seem like she seems to be processing her feelings better, and accepting them. But she goes back to a faster rhythm and louder singing in the last song “Break Of A Heartache.” This could be her way of showing more anger and tying the last song to the first.
The album’s description on Apple Music says that back in 2002, the then 17-year-old “angsty” artist was “articulating adolescent rage.” The album description goes on to situate this theme within Lavigne’s modern career, saying that “these frustrations never really go away, so you might as well have some fun writing about them in the process,” even at 37 years old.
Not only does her new album take us on all these ups and downs with her, but it seems like we’re moving in circles, going from fast-paced songs to slower ones and back. Nevertheless, the story she tells from the beginning is consistent and has an ending.
Lavigne begins the first track with “Like a ticking time bomb / I’m about to explode / And motherf*ckers, let’s go,” ending the final song with “And not this time, motherf*cker, so I guess it’s goodbye.”
While Lavigne’s fans back in the 2000s were discovering all sorts of emotions with her, they probably aren’t going through that now. But those who decided to join her on this emotional ride with Love Sux ended up getting the message that no matter how old you are, feelings and emotions can be chaotic. This is something Lavigne has made clear all throughout her journey.
Whether you relate to her exact experience or you just want a throwback to the good ol’ times, this album does the job. But if you’re looking for Lavigne classics, you’d be better off listening to her old songs. Maybe it’s the nostalgia, or maybe they were just better, but nothing will hit the same way as the material on her first album Let Go.
Score: 8/10
Trial track: “Love It When You Hate Me”
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