Rating: N
Usually self-titled albums so late in a career – this is the fifth in 11 years for Napanee’s punk “princess” (her word) – signify a rebirth of sorts. Or at least a mature, self-assured coming into one’s own.
Which would make sense, given the singer’s recent marriage to Canadian rocker Chad Kroeger (who co-writes and -produces here) and the fact that she’ll be 30 in a year.
But down to the very song titles – 17, Bitchin’ Summer, Hello Kitty – this is no more grown-up than her debut. There is literally a song called Here’s To Never Growing Up (it sounds a lot like Complicated). Surely, more than a decade of über-fame and a couple of high-profile relationships could produce better lyric fodder than getting harassed by “the muthafuckin’ cops” at beach parties?
The most listenable song is the Chavril duet Let Me Go, which has zero of either musician’s “edge” and a whole lot of adult contemporary schmaltz. Odd to see Lavigne stunted, especially when we know she can write a heartfelt tune like I’m With You, off her first album Let Go.
Top track: Let Me Go feat. Chad Kroeger
