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Avril Lavigne fell off the music radar some time ago, her previous album The Best Damn Thing being released four years ago. Since then, Lavigne has cited various reasons for the delays in production of this follow-up: the break down of her marriage, a wish to reinvent and introduce a grown up sound and battles with her record label over the direction of the album. Before last week’s release of Goodbye Lullaby, Lavigne stated it was her most mature offering so far.
It seems surprising then that the lead single lifted from the album is ‘What The Hell?’, a song very much in the vein of ‘Girlfriend’. However, the preppy pop no longer sounds as though it is sung with any conviction. Although there are tongue-in-cheek lyrics, the chorus does not denote any vocal ability and becomes rather repetitive. Certainly, it neither hints at maturity, nor progression. ‘Girlfriend’ was somewhat annoying, but likable. It peaked at number 2 in the charts. So far, this rather lacking ‘sequel’ song has only managed 16.
Listening to the album, there were great apprehensions about where Lavigne may try and discover her new mature sound. Opener ‘Black Star’ is, firstly, the jingle to her eponymous perfume range. Whilst annoying product promotion this may be, the song interestingly displays soft, yet solid vocals over a broken chord progression on the piano. The combination is haunting and notes a direction the album may have taken, so soon whipped away by ‘What The Hell?’ Tracks ‘Smile’ and ‘Push’ are those most reminiscent of previous work. Both appear to hail back to the mix of her Let Go debut, where attitude was met with rock/pop styling and a few expletives to boot. These all come toward the start of the offering, and it is quite disappointing that Lavigne appears to be drawing from previous material after her promises.
However, it is to her credit that the latter parts of the album reflect a certain softer and mellower Avril. Many of the tracks focus on guitar, the occasional drum beat and her strong vocals. From time to time (to the album’s credit) it almost listens as though it were an acoustic session. ‘I Love You’ is probably the only track with which I take issue in the latter part, not for any fault of delivery, but rather it sounds a track that may have been penned for Miley Cyrus.
Progress is surely noted in ‘Everybody Hurts’: a track that once would have seen a moody rock approach has a positive pop ballad feel. Whilst ‘4 Real’ has been met with some rather immature stylisation, the piece captures a rather vulnerable Lavigne, akin to ‘I’m With You’. Vocal tremors and glides across the chorus prove the talent of the 26 year old. Standout track ‘Darlin’ talks of having confidence and belief in self, but not in any over-produced Perry or Ke$ha manner. The simple help here offered by Avril is far more touching than anything offered in the likes of ‘Firework’ or ‘We R Who We R’. Lavigne is much more true to self than her contemporaries.
Goodbye Lullaby does not provide everything Lavigne offered then, but it is a solid start in a search for her mature sound. Whilst the beginning of the album appears repetitive and rather uninspired, the offering does improve as it progresses. Hopefully, after another few years of searching, Lavigne will have solidified her progression made here.
★★★☆☆
Like it? Try Katy Perry, Ke$ha, or (for a twist) The Pretty Reckless.
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