Avril Lavigne talks new album and starting a family

Avril Lavigne is very used to flying solo.

The Canadian pop singer, who rose to fame in 2002 with her debut album "Let Go," has been pumping out hits, charting her own path since she was 17 years old.

The picture looks a lot different in 2013, especially with her new husband, Nickelback frontman Chad Kroeger, by her side. They teamed up for the first time in the studio last year, and their working relationship quickly turned romantic. Now Lavigne gets to rock out with her No. 1 guy pretty much whenever she wants.

"I'm obviously just a solo artist and he's in a band and he's used to performing music with his band members, and for me to have somebody up on stage with me or shooting a video, it's cool. It's fun," Lavigne told CBSNews.com about her 38-year-old beau.

Kroeger co-wrote and produced some of the songs on Lavigne's fifth studio album, released this month. He also guests on the single, "Let Me Go," and appears in the accompanying video. "Let Me Go" just so happened to be the first song the pair worked on together.

"I feel like he really believes in me. He's very encouraging and because he's also a singer and a performer I feel like he's different than your average producer and we can kind of tap into something different together because of that. There's a different type of understanding," Lavigne, 29, said.

Kroeger wasn't the only new talent Lavigne collaborated with for her first new studio album since 2011's "Goodbye Lullaby."

"I decided to work with all new people and to not really think about it too much. So really I just got together Chad and [songwriter/producer] David Hodges and we went into the studio and we just wrote a ton of songs," said Lavigne. "Sometimes it was three songs a day, one song, two songs, 14 hour days and I didn't really think about it. I wanted it to be very natural. And my favorite songs on this album are the songs we wrote really fast -- 'Hush Hush,' 'Hello Kitty,' 'Bad Girl.'

Deep and dark songs are peppered throughout the album, which features everything from the traditional pop singles to emotional ballads. That sound, Lavigne says, was inspired simply by her mood, or the instrument at hand. "If it's the piano then that usually strikes more of an emotional chord. It's darker. I feel a lot and I get to sing more. If it's a pop song, it's very 'da de da de da de' -- very simple, you know. And when it's a more musical tune it's actually a lot more work. You really have to think about the story and what you're saying. We really get into that. So, the whole album is a combination -- it's pop music, it's ballads. It's all there."

Asked if she would return the favor by guesting on Nickelback's next album, Lavigne said, "I don't know. He's [Kroeger] got his own thing going on. They're doing pretty good. But you never know."

Lavigne, though, has been on the road with the Canadian rock band this year, and Kroeger may join Lavigne on tour in February if the timing all works out.

"I love performing and now that I'm married, eventually I'd love to have a family but I always want to make music. I also love to act and design clothes...I like staying busy," she said.

Still displaying some of that punk-rock edge from her "Sk8ter Boi" days, Lavigne is a combination of both sweet and edgy. She gave off that vibe during her album release party in New York last week where she played a flurry of new songs and even slipped in an oldie from "Let Go."

Being in the business for more than a decade has allowed Lavigne to become even more comfortable with herself: "It's always really good to know who you are and to be true to yourself because that's when you find happiness," said Lavigne.