Avril Lavigne started out as the anti-Britney Spears and two years later she is still bucking trends.
While Spears is out-sexing even herself these days, 19-year-old Napanee native Lavigne is on the radio telling a boy -- who thought she was easy -- exactly where to go.
"Get out of my head, get off of my bed, yeah, that's what I said," sings Lavigne in Don't Tell Me, the first single off her sophomore album Under My Skin, which hits stores today.
"I grew up in a Christian home, and I've always had morals," Lavigne told the London Times. "I'm not going to let any guy pressure me into doing something I don't want to do. There are a lot of pressures on young girls these days, and my songs come from my personal experiences."
The tune should come as a relief to parents of some of Lavigne's younger fans and provides an interesting juxtaposition to similarly aged hotel heiress Paris Hilton, who stars in a soon-to-hit-stores homemade sex video with her boyfriend.
Hilton used to go out with Lavigne's rumoured current boyfriend, fellow Canuck and Sum 41 frontman Deryck Whibley, though the two women couldn't be more different.
LASTING CAREER
Both girls love a good party, but the dressed-down Lavigne told the Boston Globe last week she rides in SUVs or vans because limousines are cheesy.
"It's too embarrassing," she said.
No matter how she gets around, there's an enormous amount of pressure on Lavigne today. After all, her debut album Let Go, sold 14 million copies. Odds are against matching that and though she'll likely be financially comfortable for the rest of her life, it's now-or-never time to build a viable, lasting music career for herself.
This must be abundantly clear to the tiny singer, who in a recent episode of E! television's Celebrities Uncensored, flipped two-handed birds to paparazzi who taunted her with cries of "here today, Debbie Gibson tomorrow."
But if the pressure is getting to her, Lavigne isn't showing it.
"I'm not thinking about record sales or anything, whatever," she told the Sun. "I'm just going to write music that makes me happy. And I'm happy with the record I wrote and whether or not it sells millions of copies, that's okay because I'm happy with it."
The early reviews are mostly positive, focusing on a more expressive Lavigne who is clearly growing up both artistically and physically. Half the songs were written with fellow Canadian songstress Chantal Kreviazuk, a collaboration Lavigne doesn't hesitate to rave about in interviews.
THE MATRIX
Gone is the trio of hitmakers called The Matrix behind much of her debut and the smash Complicated, who eventually spoke out and claimed Lavigne is not quite the songwriter she became fond of describing herself as. This time around, says the singer, she was in control of pen and production.
"I get right in there and make the decisions. I'm hands-on with everything ... I told the label, 'I'm going to write the songs and record them and I'll give them to you when I'm ready,' " said Lavigne.
The singer, who was recently named to Teen People magazine's "Hottest Stars Under 25" list, said last week she hopes the new album will show people she's growing up without leaving same-aged fans behind.
"I write from personal experiences, so I hope they can relate," she said. "That's important to me ... writing about things I'm going through at the age I'm at."
