Reid gave A&R Joshua Sarubin the responsibility for overseeing Lavigne's development and the recording of her debut album. They spent several months in New York working with different co-writers trying to forge an individual sound for her. Sarubin told HitQuarters that for awhile they struggled finding her sound and although early collaborations with songwriter-producers including Sabelle Breer, Curt Frasca and Peter Zizzo resulted in some good songs, they didn't match her and her voice. It was only when Lavigne then went to Los Angeles in May 2001 and created two songs with The Matrix production team – including "Complicated" – that the record company felt she had made a major breakthrough. Lavigne then worked further with The Matrix and also with singer-songwriter Cliff Magness. Recording finished in January 2002.