AVRIL LAVIGNE RELEASES 'HEAD ABOVE WATER ' HER FIRST MUSIC AFTER 5 YEARS

ROUGH ONLINE has  been excited about Avril Lavigne’s comeback after a 5 year hiatus, since it was officially announced by the singer herself earlier this year, and now that the new single “Head Above Water” has finally dropped it has left us so desperately wanting to hear her long-awaited, forthcoming, sixth studio album, and believe us when we say that this is a complete reinvention for her, evidenced the moment that the skilfully played, emotive piano drops in the song’s opening alongside Avril’s beautiful voice which we have truly missed, indicating within the first 30 seconds that this will be one hell of a tearjerker. It is not a “Girlfriend,” it is not a “Complicated,” nor is it a “My Happy Ending”…”Head Above Water” stands on its’ own, separate to her previous works and for so many positive reasons.

When the “I’m With You” singer reaches her higher register solely in chest voice during the first verse whilst singing the lyrics “and my voice becomes the driving voice” you are instantly reminded of how much we have longed for the Canadian beauty to return to the music scene with that Gaelic-influenced yodel technique we have loved hearing her nail from the very start of her career. It is classic Avril, vocally at her best with that stunning, pitch-perfect, beautifully performed tone, and ROUGH ONLINE couldn’t think of a better singer right now that we would want to spend all day listening to. “Head Above Water” lyrically also marks the first time in Lavigne’s career where she makes reference to God, specifically as the entity that got her through the hardest time of her life…when she was diagnosed with Lyme Disease, and the “Sk8er Boy” chick does not at all shy away from exploring the concept of Strength, Hope and Death on her profoundly sad new single, especially on lines like “I’m too young to fall asleep” which quite frankly brings you to tears because of its’ direct honesty about the fear of dying. But let’s not forget a fact about the Queen of Pop-Rock…she is one of the most talented songwriters on the mainstream music scene and proves this yet again by delivering one of the catchiest hooks of 2018, as she sings at the top of her lungs “God keep my head above water, don’t let me drown, it gets harder, I’ll meet you there at the altar as I fall down to my knees.”

Let’s also not for one second disregard Stephan Moccio’s masterful music production on “Head Above Water” which features a tour-de-force of a haunting cello arrangement, an 80’s sounding, live drum kit and closed, one-off Electric guitar strums of the memorable chord structure on its’ powerful chorus sections, an overall captivating piece of emotional music that easily sits alongside previous, strong, power ballads such as Demi Lovato’s 2001 hit single “Skyscraper” and has “Billboard number 1 hit” written all over it. It’s about time that Avril Lavigne picked up her Grammy Award for Song Of The Year, with this superbly written track that deserves universal critical acclaim and Rough Online have quite simply fallen deeply in love with her new musical direction. From all of us at Rough…Avril, there is no one else quite like you…welcome back. We missed you.