Don't call "Goodbye Lullaby" a breakup album. After all, it was made with an ex.
Avril Lavigne opened up to Rolling Stone about the making of her new album, a mix of her famous pop punk and softer, acoustic tunes. While the introverted nature may make it seem like a sad reflection on her divorce from Sum41 star Deryck Whibley, that's not quite true; Whibley produced half of the album, which Lavigne says "is about life."
"Deryck is the most talented person I know," she said. "He produced, mixed, played guitar and bass. I wouldn't say it's a breakup record. It's about life. I went into it with a mind-set of not trying to write hits. People will make assumptions, but they'd be surprised what certain songs are about."
The two remain close outside the studio. "Everyone's always surprised that we're still so close," she told the magazine. "Like, 'Really?!'"
What most people don't know is that they go so far back.
"I made out with him the first day I met him. He gave me my first shot of Jäger. I had a tie on -- it was back in the days of the tie. I was 17," Lavigne remembered.
Talking about the divorce with Chelsea Handler in February, Lavigne spoke about her relationship with Whibley.
"We're not doing each other but yes, we're friends," Lavigne said. "I really respect him as a person and as an artist so it's all good."
Whibley's Sum41 released their first new album in four years on Tuesday, and unlike Lavigne, many of his songs have to deal with the split.
"I wrote a lot of these songs in a dark period, because, going through the divorce period was a very hard, dark time," Whibley told MTV. "And what I realized, I guess, is, when you're going through something -- whether it's a death in the family, a divorce, something that's very unexpected and painful -- you go super, super low, and then when you can come out of it, what you thought was your highest point becomes even higher."
For more from Lavigne, click over to Rolling Stone.