Paramore release 'This Is Why', out now
After an almost six year wait, the iconic emo band is back and better than ever. Paramore fully returns into the music scene with the release of their brand new album This Is Why. The album comes in just short of forty minutes, making it one of paramore's shortest albums to date. But yet they have managed to make this album their most emotionally concise and collaborative project between members of their band. The best way to describe it in comparison to Paramore’s previous works would be to say that This Is Why feels like an intentional mix between After Laughter’s pop instrumentals and Brand New Eyes’ looming lyrical passion.
Alternate album cover photographed by Zachary Gray.
Although they have had a colorful history in terms of group dynamics, Paramore currently consists of lead singer Hayley Williams, guitarist Taylor York, and drummer Zac Farro. This Is Why is the trio’s second project in a row keeping to the same group dynamic. Up until this point Paramore has consistently shifted members in between each album cycle. It is very clear when listening to This Is Why the album that the trio really rekindled their connection to each other sonically through creating this project. It seems safe to say that the three life long friends have found their grove again within the bounds of music.
Paramore became their most musically creative on this record when it came to production, guitar stylistic choices, and lyrical content. The band have talked together in previous interviews about finding their joy for creating again in the studio throughout this album cycle, and it shows in the music. Each members rhythm feels so remarkably in sync with the others. York and Farro have said that they together wrote a lot of the instrumentation and then passed their work onto Williams eager to see what kind of lyricism would inspire her.
Starting the album is the title track and statement piece, This Is Why. The band also followed up with The News, a heavy hitting song to further ingrain the message of the title track before it. Both songs out, leading up to the release of the album, along with the third single C’est Comme Ca, gave fans a glimpse at what was to come with the full album. The amusement and anticipation grew altogether with each single release as each of the three were sonically very different from one to the next. This left fans with a lot of room for interpretation for what they were hoping to hear next from their favorite band.
In Running Out Of Time, track three of the album, the band write to personify a more literal meaning than the first two tracks on the album. During their celebratory show at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville (the band's hometown), Williams took to introducing the song in joking manor by saying “it's not that deep”... “unless you want to think about the planet dying, then It can be”. York and Farro keep the song tempo moving as Williams compliments their rhythm with personable vocals, audible quirks, and belts.
The cover photo for Running Out Of Time taken by Zachary Gray
Figure 8 has hands down the most audibly interesting and textured intro, led by York’s unmistakable skill. The song opens with a binding dissonant riff that loops throughout the song, replicating the feeling of a circulating figure 8. “All for your sake, Became the very thing that I hate, I lost my way, Spinning in an endless figure 8” Williams bellows in her classic gritty vocals.
Another standout on the record is Crave. In an interview with Zane Lowe for Apple Music, Williams discusses the meaning behind Crave. Williams states loosely that the song is about the feeling of realizing that you never want the moment you’re currently in to end, to which compels you to mourn the loss of that moment before it has even ended. This feeling then causes you to actually run through the moment without allowing yourself to absorb the feeling that lets you to recall upon this memory later on. Williams says she is guilty of this subconscious action as much as the rest of us probably, adding that she is working to correct that in her own time.
Paramore’s new album is a standout amongst their discography to date and is for sure to leave an impact on their work in the future. Packed with more piercing songs to uncover, Listen to This Is Why the new album by Paramore, out now.
Paramore also has a tour coming up starting in March of 2023 for this latest release, so hurry up and give them a listen before you run out of time to catch them on their world tour!