Avril Lavigne has come a long way from the girl who with lots of eyeliner and punk attitude used to sing 'Sk8rboi'. For a while now, she has been going through some drastic image changes, which granted her access into the competing world of modeling.

Besides the many very lucrative modeling contracts she signed, Avril has also been very busy in launching herself into the movie industry. She began taking roles in as many films as she could, all the while working on her acting, and the success did not fail to come: she was warmly received for her performance in recent flicks as 'Fast Food Nation', 'The Flock' and 'Over the Hedge'.

And that's not all that Avril has been up to lately: she also began writing and producing music, for both her own album and for other artists (including 'Breakaway', which she co-wrote for former 'American Idol' winner, Kelly Clarkson). And now, she announced that she is preparing for the release of a new album of her own.

Despite her many run-ins with the paparazzi and being in most cases described as a poorly-behaved brat, Avril has nor for one second lost contact with her fans. She often talked to them on her myspace webpage and this is the same way that this time, too, she let them know of her latest studio material. And, by the looks of things, this proves to be a very good one.

'I promise you guys will love this record.', Avril wrote, saying that, because it was inspired mainly from her live concerts, it will be funnier and much better than all her previous ones. 'Because I am a touring artist and spend so much of my time playing live shows, I wanted to make sure the songs were fun. Fun for fans and myself. I am working on my last song right now in studio.', the singer explained.

The brand new album hits stores in April next years, but fans won't have to wait that long to see what it is all about. The first release from the yet untitled project, a track called 'Girlfriend', will come out in February, Avril promises.