Avril Lavigne made one thing crystal clear in 2022: she wasn’t easing back in. Love Sux hit like a stage-dive off the amps—loud, fast, and unapologetically bratty. “I wrote over 30 songs,” she says, casually brushing past the fact that most artists would kill for just three singles as sticky as hers. “I could’ve done a double album. I still might.”
She almost did. And it would’ve made sense. Her pop-punk revival wasn’t some trend-chasing algorithm hack. It was personal. “I’d just canceled my tour because of the pandemic,” she says. “I was sitting at home thinking about how much I love playing live. And I knew—I wanted to make a record that felt like one of my concerts.”
Which is exactly what Love Sux sounds like: circle pit tempos, anthemic kiss-offs, and enough snarling guitars to make your high school Vans vibrate in the closet. “It’s the record I’ve always wanted to make,” she says. “Big guitars, no holding back.”
She credits a lot of that energy to the new crew: John Feldmann, Mod Sun, and Travis Barker—basically pop-punk’s Justice League. Barker initiated the mission with a simple “Are you writing?” Lavigne met Mod Sun, told him she was done with love, then immediately fell into a relationship with him. The irony wasn’t lost on her. “We’re writing this album called Love Sux, and I’m falling in love while we’re doing it. Like, really?”
But even with all the sarcasm and stomp, there’s one track that breaks the spell: “Dare to Love Me,” a vulnerable, surprisingly open ballad she nearly left off. “I didn’t want it on there,” she says. “I was like, ‘Nope. Not going there again.’” But the guys in the room pushed her. “They said it was their favorite. So I gave in. Fine. You win.”
The rest of the record is pure bite. Songs like “Bite Me” and “Boys Lie” swing with the confidence of someone who’s been through the emotional woodchipper and come out flipping the bird. “I’ve always had that empowerment streak in my music,” she says. “Knowing your worth. Saying no. Standing up for yourself. Even if it’s just to say: I’m the one who got away.”
“Boys Lie” even gives equal time to the opposing team thanks to Machine Gun Kelly, who barks back with his own counterpoint. “It’s genius,” Lavigne says. “Every story has two sides, right? I say boys lie, he says girls lie too. It’s real. And it’s fun.”
Speaking of fun, let’s talk about Mark Hoppus. Blink-182’s frontman not only features on Love Sux—he co-wrote one of the songs. “I totally fangirled,” she admits. “I never do that, but I was freaking out.” The session happened over Zoom, mid-pandemic. “He does everything—writes, produces, engineers. It was one of the coolest sessions of my life.” Even more meaningful: it was recorded before Hoppus’ cancer diagnosis and return. “To hear him back, to see him healthy—it was this beautiful full-circle moment.”
The whole thing arrives, not accidentally, around the 20th anniversary of her debut Let Go. “That wasn’t planned,” she says. “But I’m definitely celebrating.” That includes getting her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and potentially playing some throwback shows. “I might do a few smaller venues and just play the first album start to finish.”
As for a sequel to Love Sux? “There’s a whole second album’s worth of songs,” she teases. “It was too much fun. We didn’t want to stop.”
And then there’s Sk8er Boi: The Movie—yes, it’s real. No, it’s not just an extended music video. “We’re writing the script now. It’s based on the storyline of the song, and I’m working with someone really talented. I can’t say who yet, but I’m producing it.” She already roped Mark Hoppus in for a cameo.
So how does it feel, two decades later, to return to the sound that made her a superstar?
“It feels like me,” she says. “This is what I’ve always loved. This is the music that shaped me. And playing these songs now—it’s effortless. It feels like hanging out with people I went to high school with. Everyone just gets it.”
At her live shows, she watches the crowd go from thrashing to tears. “One second they’re fist-pumping, the next they’re crying to ‘I’m With You,’” she says. “And honestly, as a songwriter? That’s everything. That’s the power of music.”
Watch the interview above and then check out the videos below.
