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Unapologetically original.
Unabashedly in your face. Avril Lavigne's 2002 debut
Let Go gave young women a defiant voice and set it
to music they could rock out to. Fourteen million
albums and eight Grammy nominations later, the
Canadian chanteuse returns with Under My Skin but if
you're expecting a whole lot of the same, you've got
another thing coming. This is not a girl who rests
on her laurels.
Under My Skin opens with the dramatic tracks "Take
Me Away" and "Together," which set the scene for the
kick-ass guitars and radio-ready chorus of "Don't
Tell Me," a song of willful female empowerment that
picks up where "Complicated" left off. From there
it's a one-two punch of three-chord guitar licks
("He Wasn't") and head-bopping optimism ("Who Knows")
alongside swirling, brooding melodies ("Freak Out")
and moody tracks ("Forgotten," "Nobody's Home") that
reveal a darker side of Avril Lavigne.
"I grew up so much in the past two years," admits
the Napanee, Ontario, native. "I've been through a
lot, I've learned a lot, and experienced a lot both
good and bad. These songs are about all of that, and
each is very personal to me." Working with producers,
Butch Walker (of the Marvelous 3), Raine Maida (of
Our Lady Peace), Don Gilmore (Linkin Park, Pearl Jam),
Avril co-wrote the dozen introspective songs on
Under My Skin in near secrecy. "I'd just come off my
world tour and got back to Toronto and was writing
right away," the 19-year-old says. "I had no idea
what I was going to do. No one did. People wondered
if I'd run out of things to write about, but it was
the opposite."
After a lunch date with fellow Canadian singer-songwriter
Chantal Kreviazuk turned into a major chick-bonding
session, Avril and Chantal sat down to write. The
chemistry was ineffable. "We got together one night
and all of a sudden we had a song," she says. "No
one knew what I was up to, not my management, not my
label." The duo got together the next night and
wrote another song. "We did that for two weeks and
wrote 12 songs." Momentum took over and by summer
Avril was moving into Chantal and her husband Raine
Maida's Malibu house to record. "I was only off my
tour for a couple of weeks, and I was ready to
record," Avril recalls.
The California air provided a needed escape from
Avril's frantic life. "It was a great time for me,
living out there, being out of the public eye, and
having my independence. And my friendship with
Chantal evolved into one of the best I've ever had."
Chantal and Avril would spend all night in the
studio perfecting the songs. During the day, Avril
learned the city by driving to and from the studio
and wherever she needed to be. No photos, no
interviews, no pressure. Eventually they recorded
most of the songs in Raine's studio, and those songs
appear unaltered on Under My Skin. The rest of the
tracks, co-written with her guitarist Evan
Taubenfeld (and one track with former Evanescence
guitarist Ben Moody), were cut just up the road. "I
was involved in every aspect of making this record.
I'm very hands-on," she says. "I knew how I wanted
the drums, the guitar tones, and the structures to
be. I understand the whole process so much better
this time because I've been through it. I'm really
picky with my sound."
Picking favorites out of her 12 hand-made babies is
another matter. "They all mean so much to me, but I
love ‘Together,’ which is all about being in a
relationship and knowing it's not right. It's a song
that basically says, it's not working out honey." A
couple of other tracks mine dysfunctional
relationships and have hooks as catchy as those on
"Complicated" and real-life narratives (like "Sk8er
Boi"), but what truly underscores Avril's growth are
the more positive tracks, such as "Who Knows" and
"Take Me Away." "I guess that's just the way that I
am now," admits the former supposed attitude junkie.
Deep, piano-driven tracks like "Together" and
"Forgotten" reflect Avril's growth, maturity, and
change since the release of Let Go. "I'm happy with
what I'm doing and have faith that everything is
going to work out for the best." She's also found a
feminine side to offset her well-publicized
tomboyishness. "I'm such a chick. I'm a hopeless
romantic, and surprisingly old-fashioned," Avril
laughs. "That's why I wrote a song about not giving
it up to just any guy ["Don't Tell Me"]." Girly
quirks aside, Avril's anxious to get the show on the
road. "It feels so good to be singing new songs,"
she says. "I feel refreshed and I'm looking forward
to the next thing."
Optimistic or melancholic, Avril's two-year
wild-ride on the rock-star express has shaped her
world view and taught her a whole lot about balance.
"The songs on Under My Skin are definitely deeper
than those on Let Go," she says, "But I still love a
good pop song. I'm basically just a girl who likes
to write, who likes to rock out, and who wants music
to be a part of my life forever."
She's also just a girl with a bell-clear voice and
the ability to bottle youthful anguish and
enthusiasm into tidy, infectious songs. Avril
Lavigne's Under My Skin is sure to get under yours. |
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