Willow Smith says her new album will feature Avril Lavigne

Willow Smith has revealed that her upcoming new album will include a feature from Avril Lavigne.

The actor and singer, known mononymously as Willow, released her new single ‘Transparent Soul’ – a pop-punk outing featuring Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker – back in April. She said the song was the beginning a new era with her career and that she was “so grateful and excited to start this new journey.”

Speaking in a new interview, Smith talked about her forthcoming album and how it will include a lot more guest features than her previous record, 2019’s Willow.

“I am going to be having a lot more features on this album,” she told V Magazine. “On my previous albums, I was in the studio by myself a lot. It was a very insular process for this album. I wanted to open myself up a little bit more and not just be so anti-social in the studio.”

“I’m so excited that I’m going to be having a song on the album with Avril Lavigne,” Smith continued. “She is so iconic. From [ages] 13 to 16, she was my idol. It’s really nice to be able to have a quintessential pop-punk record with the pop-punk queen.”

When asked if she’ll stay in the pop-punk genre, Smith responded, “I’m going to go wherever the music is, but I love pop-punk a lot. But, where my heart lies, is metal. At some point, that’s definitely going to happen.”

Earlier this year, Smith gave her fans a peek at her new direction. She shared studio footage on her Instagram of her performing a cover of Deftones’ ‘My Own Summer (Shove It)’ on an electric guitar with musicians Gitai and Sean Tavella.

In March last year, Smith released ‘The Anxiety’, a collaborative album with Tyler Cole. The release was preceded by an art performance in Los Angeles, in which both Smith and Cole were locked in a glass box in full view of the public for 24 hours.