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| producer =
| producer =
* [[John Feldmann]]
* [[John Feldmann]]
* [[Derek Smith (television producer)|Derek "MOD SUN" Smith]]
* [[Mod Sun|Derek "MOD SUN" Smith]]
* [[Travis Barker]]
* [[Travis Barker]]
| prev_title = [[Head Above Water (album)|Head Above Water]]
| prev_title = [[Head Above Water (album)|Head Above Water]]

Revision as of 00:42, 25 February 2022

Love Sux
Studio album by
Avril Lavigne
ReleasedFebruary 25, 2022 (2022-02-25)
RecordedNovember 2020 – February 2021
Genre
Length33:29
Label
Producer
Avril Lavigne chronology
Head Above Water
(2019) 		Love Sux
(2022)
Singles from Love Sux
  1. "Bite Me"
    Released: November 10, 2021
  2. "Love It When You Hate Me"
    Released: January 14, 2022

Love Sux is the seventh studio album by Canadian singer-songwriter Avril Lavigne, which is scheduled to be released on February 25, 2022, by DTA and Elektra Records. It features collaborations with Machine Gun Kelly, Blackbear and Mark Hoppus of Blink-182. The album was preceded by two singles: "Bite Me", and "Love It When You Hate Me".

Background

Following the release of her previous studio album Head Above Water (2019), Lavigne mentioned in a May 2020 interview with American Songwriter magazine that she would "like to release some music in 2021 and that she's started working on new material, which could be the basis of her next album".[3] In December 2020, Lavigne confirmed she was recording new music with producers John Feldmann, Mod Sun, Travis Barker and Machine Gun Kelly.[4] With recording for the album being reportedly completed by February 2021.[5]

On November 3, 2021, Lavigne announced she had signed with Barker's label, DTA Records.[6] On January 13, 2022, Lavigne revealed the title of her seventh studio album, along with the release date of February 25, 2022.[7]

Composition and themes

Love Sux was described by Lavigne in an interview with Entertainment Weekly as the "most alternative record I've made from front to back", further explaining "most of my albums have like pop songs, ballads, and it's quite diverse. The people I worked with really understood me and come from that genre of music".[8] She described the recording of the album as feeling as though she was "back in high school hanging out with the type of people [she] grew up with, and it was just effortless."[8] In an interview with Nylon, Lavigne said that "the album is light and happy, even though there's songs about heartbreak and breaking up" but that "it's also anthemic, and it's powerful, and it has a positive message for people to stand up for yourself, to have self-worth." She further stated that Love Sux is the album she had "wanted to make for [her] whole career."[9]

Songs

Love Sux opens with the track "Cannonball", described by Ali Shutler of NME as "a furious electro dance opener" which "starts with a burst of buoyant guitars and the angsty scream of "like a ticking time bomb, I'm about to explode" and that "less than 20 seconds in, the tune veers drastically into hyper-pop territory".[10] The second track "Bois Lie" features American musician Machine Gun Kelly, and was described by Bobby Olivier of Spin as a "speedy duet" which "builds to a he-said-she-said climax", and as "a sonic sequel to MGK's "Forget Me Too"".[11]

"Bite Me" is the album's third track and lead single, and has drawn comparisons to Lavigne's earlier studio albums Let Go (2002) and The Best Damn Thing (2007),[12][13][14] as well as to the band Paramore.[15] Billboard described it as a "guitar- and drum-heavy track" which "features Lavigne raging at her former lover for failing to treat her properly, promising that they'll always regret being kicked out of her life."[16]

Fourth track and second single "Love It When You Hate Me" was described by Shutner as a "pop-punk banger",[17] and Emily Carter writing for Kerrang! noted that the song "hears the Canadian star embracing nostalgic pop-punk in the chorus – 'The highs the lows the yes, the nos / You're so hot when you get cold / Don't call me baby / I love it when you hate me' – and fresher elements in the verses."[18]

Seventh track "Avalanche" was described by Shutler as "find[ing] Lavigne, now 37, just as confused as she was on her 2002 breakout track "Complicated", featuring the lyrics "I wish my life came with instructions" but that "with a delicious, synth-driven breakdown, she's far more self-assured here."[10]

Tenth track "All I Wanted", featuring Mark Hoppus, "sees the two punk veterans trade in various past memories for a surprisingly affecting number".[19] Eleventh track "Dare to Love Me" is a "delicate ballad" containing "fraught emotion",[10] and was described by Jessie Atkinson of Gigwise as a "piano led beauty".[20] "Break of a Heartache" is the album's twelfth and final track, and was said by Shannon Garner of Clash to be a "bombastic number that confidently brushes off past trauma and reassures people that you can overcome things and change how you feel towards certain situations given the time."[21]

Promotion

Singles

The album's lead single, "Bite Me", was released on November 10, 2021.[22] The second single, "Love It When You Hate Me", featuring Blackbear, was released on January 14, 2022.[23]

Tour

To promote the album, Lavigne will embark on the Love Sux Tour, originally titled the Bite Me Tour, in 2022. The European leg was originally scheduled for that year until it got pushed to 2023 due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.[24]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic66/100[25]
Review scores
SourceRating
Clash Music[21]
The Line of Best Fit6[19]
The Independent[26]
NME[10]
Gigwise[20]

Love Sux received favorable reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album has an average score of 66 based on 5 reviews.[25]

In a positive review from Clash, Shannon Garner wrote that "it would be easy to disregard Lavigne's album as part of the current 2000s nostalgia storm that's on the rise but it's far from hazy nostalgia", further remarking that Love Sux "showcases growth in Lavigne as an artist", and that the album is "more of an antidote to pop progress rather than a nostalgic throwback", concluding that "it just has all the elements of what made us fall in love with Avril Lavigne in the first place."[21]

Tom Williams of The Line of Best Fit complimented Love Sux, commenting that the album "brings the energy up to a 10 almost immediately and rarely turns it down across the album’s 33 minutes.".[19] Roisin O'Connor of The Independent wrote that the album is "Lavigne's best album since 2007's The Best Damn Thing, which moved away from her earlier grunge-based sound and into catchier territory. It says a lot about the 37-year-old's conviction that her rebel-girl schtick doesn't feel hackneyed." While critical of some of the album's lyrics, O'Connor concluded that Love Sux is "shameless but cathartic hit of nostalgia".[26]

Writing for NME, Ali Shutler reviewed Love Sux positively, remarking that the album "is an unapologetic blast of self-empowerment" and "a progressive pop-punk album that eschews the old rules – but not at the expense of maximalist, joyful guitar anthems."[10]

In a more mixed review, Jessie Atkinson of Gigwise commented "Now thirty-seven years old, Avril is still playing with schoolbook colloquialisms and the dramas of one who is unlucky in love. The results are undeniably fun, especially for those of us who were young at the time of 2002's "Let Go" – and the new youth, who are dabbling in chequered wrist warmers and smudged liner. Sadly, Love Sux sounds too much like a 2002 carbon copy to truly impress in 2022."[20]

Track listing

Love Sux track listing
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1."Cannonball"
2:18
2."Bois Lie" (featuring Machine Gun Kelly)
 2:43
3."Bite Me"
  • Feldmann
  • MOD SUN
  • Barker
2:39
4."Love It When You Hate Me" (featuring Blackbear)
  • Feldmann
  • MOD SUN
  • Barker
2:25
5."Love Sux"
  • Lavigne
  • Feldmann
  • Smith
  • Feldmann
  • Barker
  • MOD SUN
2:48
6."Kiss Me like the World Is Ending"
  • Lavigne
  • Feldmann
  • Smith
  • Feldmann
  • Barker
  • MOD SUN
2:50
7."Avalanche"
  • Lavigne
  • Feldmann
  • Smith
  • Feldmann
  • MOD SUN
3:39
8."Déjà vu"
  • Lavigne
  • Feldmann
  • Smith
  • Feldmann
  • MOD SUN
3:23
9."F.U."
  • Lavigne
  • Barker
  • Nick Long
Barker2:47
10."All I Wanted" (featuring Mark Hoppus)
  • Lavigne
  • Feldmann
  • Smith
  • Hoppus
  • Feldmann
  • Barker
  • MOD SUN
2:32
11."Dare to Love Me"Lavigne
  • Feldmann
  • MOD SUN
3:34
12."Break of a Heartache"Lavigne
  • Feldmann
  • MOD SUN
1:51
Total length:33:29
Japanese edition bonus track[27][28]
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
13."Bite Me" (acoustic)
  • Lavigne
  • Feldmann
  • Smith
  • Fedi
  • Marshmello
3:09
Total length:36:38

Release history

Release history for Love Sux
Region Date Format Version Label Ref.
Various February 25, 2022
Standard
[29]
Japan CD Japanese edition
[30]

References

  1. ^ Williams, Tom. "Avril Lavigne walks the fine line of nostalgia on Love Sux". The Line of Best Fit. Retrieved February 21, 2022.
  2. ^ Phan, Karena. "Review: Pop-punk queen Avril Lavigne reigns on 'Love Sux'". AP News. Retrieved February 24, 2022. "Bite Me," "Love Sux" and "Love It When You Hate Me" with blackbear lean into the alternative rock vibe.
  3. ^ "Avril Lavigne Explains Her Choice To Pay Tribute to Frontline Workers on "We Are Warriors"". American Songwriter. May 18, 2020. Archived from the original on October 21, 2021. Retrieved May 19, 2020.
  4. ^ "Avril Lavigne is hard at work in the studio working on her next album". December 22, 2020. Archived from the original on October 21, 2021. Retrieved December 23, 2020.
  5. ^ "Avril Lavigne has finished her new pop-punk album". Kerrang. February 8, 2021. Archived from the original on October 21, 2021. Retrieved February 9, 2021.
  6. ^ "Avril Lavigne signs to Travis Barker's record label and teases new single". NME. November 4, 2021. Retrieved November 5, 2021.
  7. ^ Carter, Emily (January 13, 2022). "Avril Lavigne announces new album Love Sux". Kerrang!. Retrieved January 13, 2022.
  8. ^ a b "Pop-punk's princess Avril Lavigne talks reclaiming her crown with upcoming album". Entertainment Weekly. December 13, 2021. Retrieved January 14, 2022.
  9. ^ "Avril Lavigne On New Music, Falling In Love Again, & Pop-Punk". Nylon. December 1, 2021. Retrieved January 14, 2022.
  10. ^ a b c d e Shutler, Ali (February 24, 2022). "Avril Lavigne – 'Love Sux' review: a modern update on early '00s pop-punk". NME.
  11. ^ "Album Review: Avril Lavigne, 'Love Sux'". Spin. Retrieved February 24, 2022.
  12. ^ Martoccio, Angie (November 10, 2021). "Avril Lavigne Harks Back to Her 'Let Go' Era on New Single 'Bite Me'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved December 11, 2021.
  13. ^ Clark, Conor (November 12, 2021). "Avril Lavigne harks back to The Best Damn Thing era in Bite Me music video". Gay Times. Retrieved December 11, 2021.
  14. ^ Whitaker, Marisa (November 10, 2021). "Listen To Avril Lavigne's 'Bite Me' With Travis Barker On Drums". Spin. Retrieved December 11, 2021.
  15. ^ Rettig, James (November 10, 2021). "Avril Lavigne – 'Bite Me'". Stereogum. Retrieved December 11, 2021.
  16. ^ "Avril Lavigne Goes Back to Her Pop-Punk Roots on 'Bite Me': Listen". Billboard. November 10, 2021. Retrieved November 10, 2021.
  17. ^ "Listen to Avril Lavigne's pop-punk anthem 'Love It When You Hate Me'". NME. January 15, 2022. Retrieved January 15, 2022.
  18. ^ "Listen to Avril Lavigne's and Blackbear's infectious new single Love It When You Hate Me". Kerrang. January 15, 2022. Retrieved January 15, 2022.
  19. ^ a b c Williams, Tom (February 21, 2022). "Avril Lavigne walks the fine line of nostalgia on Love Sux". The Line of Best Fit. Retrieved February 24, 2022.
  20. ^ a b c Atkinson, Jessie (February 24, 2022). "Album Review: Avril Lavigne - Love Sux". Gigwise.
  21. ^ a b c Garner, Shannon (February 24, 2022). "Avril Lavigne - Love Sux". Clash Music.
  22. ^ Curto, Justin (November 10, 2021). "Avril Lavigne Is Back in Her Pop-Punk Era on New Single 'Bite Me'". Vulture.com. Retrieved January 14, 2022.
  23. ^ Kenneally, Cerys (January 13, 2022). "Avril Lavigne announces new album and blackbear collaboration "Love It When You Hate Me"". The Line of Best Fit. Retrieved January 14, 2022.
  24. ^ @AvrilLavigne (February 7, 2022). "Attn: EU/UK fans" (Tweet). Retrieved February 24, 2022 – via Twitter.
  25. ^ a b "Critic Reviews for Love Sux - Metacritic". Metacritic. Retrieved February 24, 2022.
  26. ^ a b O'Connor, Roisin (February 24, 2022). "Album reviews: Johnny Marr – Fever Dreams Pts 1-4, and Avril Lavigne – Love Sux". The Independent.
  27. ^ "＜最強無敵のロック・プリンセス＞アヴリル・ラヴィーン、3年ぶりの待望の最新アルバム『ラヴ・サックス』のリリースが2月25日に決定！ さらに本日、新曲「ラヴ・イット・ホウェン・ユー・ヘイト・ミー（feat. ブラックベアー）」をリリース！" (in Japanese). Sony Music Entertainment Japan. Retrieved January 16, 2022.
  28. ^ "Love Sux [Blu-spec CD2] [Limited Edition, w/ Tote Bag]". CDJapan. Retrieved January 16, 2022.
  29. ^ Love Sux release formats:
    1. "Love Sux Exclusive Transparent Bright Orange Cassette". Avril Lavigne. Retrieved January 14, 2022.
    2. "Love Sux CD". Avril Lavigne. Retrieved January 14, 2022.
    3. Lavigne, Avril (February 25, 2022). "Love Sux". Apple Music (CA). Retrieved January 14, 2022.
  30. ^ "ラヴ・サックス【完全生産限定盤】". Sony Music Japan. Retrieved January 16, 2022.
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