Avril Lavigne returns to the music industry reviving her signature pop punk vibe in her new single, “Bite Me.” The track was released on Nov. 10 through Travis Barker’s record label, DTA Records, and Barker features on the drums. This single is a preview into Lavigne’s seventh studio album that is set to be released at the beginning of 2022.

A lot of current pop-punk songs that are being released have taken influence and inspiration from early 90’s and 2000’s pop punk songs and mix a little bit of the newer sound in to merge the two. In the first verse this sound comes to life, similarly to how Machine Gun Kelly produced his album, “Tickets to My Downfall” that was released earlier this year in Aug. Lavigne’s debut album “Let Go,” which will turn 20 in 2022, is the best-selling record by a Canadian artist of the 21st century. Her debut album, as well as her discography, has influenced and molded signature sounds and styles in the pop punk genre. She wrote “Let Go” at the age of 16 and 17 when she put out her first single, “Complicated.” “Complicated” reached number one in several countries worldwide and led to Lavigne becoming the youngest female soloist to have a number one album in the United Kingdom.

“Bite Me” is a pop punk breakup anthem, written from Lavigne’s perspective of naively falling in love with the wrong person. The music video starts out with Lavigne aggressively getting out of a Jeep and walking past Barker who is leaned up against a brick building. Lavigne is shown with her classic blonde hair with hot pink mids to ends, bringing back the nostalgic look from her 2000’s era. The video goes between shots of Lavigne performing the song outside with a band in a brick ally. Lavigne gets her revenge against her ex-lover at the end of the music video when she’s seen through his apartment door peep hole, knocking before smashing her guitar against the door, ending the video.

Her vocals are strong and turned up over the heavy beat provided by Travis’ drumming. The first and second verse lyrically detail a messy breakup Lavigne went through, and her revenge against her partner for how he treated her throughout the relationship. It’s a drum heavy song with Lavigne’s powerhouse vocals over the beat. Lavigne opens the song with, “Hey you, you should’ve known better, better to f*** with someone like me / Hey you, forever and ever you’re gonna wish I was your wifey.” Lavigne describes her moving on from this relationship and regretting it even happening in the first place.

The pre-chorus is, “Just face it, we didn’t make it / You bit off more than you can chew, can you taste it?” Then going into the chorus, “Hey you, you should’ve known better, better to f*** with someone like me / Hey you, forever and ever you’re gonna wish I was your wifey.” “Should’ve held on, should’ve treated me right / I gave you one chance you don’t get it twice / Hey you, and we’ll be together never, so baby, you can bite me.”

In the second verse of the song Lavigne sings, “Those things you said, might be the last ones that I heard / So come pick up your clothes from the front yard / Sprinklers on, burn the rest in the backyard / Should’ve had the guts just to say, ‘Goodbye’ / Now you’re going to have regrets for the rest of your life.” Lavigne fully wants nothing to do with this guy after he failed to try and fix the relationship when she gave him time to change.

The production on “Bite Me” incorporates a sound that has been slowly coming back into mainstream music. A lot of people are not fond of newer songs in this style of music, an example being the public reaction to MGK’s latest album, “Tickets to My Downfall.” He received a lot of negative feedback online and from the media when he initially said he was recording a pop punk album. He’s known for his fast-paced rap albums, so not many people wanted to see him record something, “outside of his lane.” Despite the lack of excitement for the release, the album still hit number one on the Billboard charts.

Lavigne has also gotten negative feedback on her newer music and has been put down for creating music with her personal sound. Lavigne has experimented with so many different styles throughout her music career beyond her signature pop punk style. She has the talent and the vocal power to bring back this style, and she continues to gain relevancy and popularity, as well as improving in her talent as she releases new music. Lavigne has had major pop hits including “My Happy Ending” which peaked at number three on the Billboard charts, “I’m With You” which hit number one on the charts, “What The H***,” and “Girlfriend.” Lavigne’s most successful song “Complicated,” peaked at 13th on the charts for 26 weeks when it debuted in 2002. “Complicated” is also Lavigne’s most successful adult contemporary song.

Lavigne’s newest single “Bite Me,” provides a modern twist on her first studio album with a heavy, catchy, pop punk oriented new school track. She sounds incredible and the track has a perfect tone on the vocals, with Lavigne hitting stellar notes, which comes from the time she spent trying out different genres of music. In my opinion, these things stand out as tell-tale signs of an artist that is going to continue to grow and flourish but who also always true to their craft. Coming back and doing this sound at this time, was the perfect move on Lavigne’s part. The music industry has big names coming up in this genre, which means that more people are listening. Lavigne took her shot to come back to her main genre and bring it back harder than her first album.

Lavigne’s experience trying out different genres of music has allowed her to get a more well-rounded style in her vocals. So, when she goes back to writing pop punk music, a lot of that comes to life and she’s bringing more talent into the genre. I believe this song is going to be a huge success for Lavigne, because anyone who fell in love with her first album will love this song as well. The song shows a lot of growth of Lavigne’s old material, providing her fans a chance to hear those moments come to life in a newer, yet familiar style.