Latest news with #PetalsForArmor
Yahoo
01-08-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Paramore's Hayley Williams just dropped 17 new songs — including the anthem track 'True Believer' — but don't call it an album
Williams previously released the solo projects 'Petals for Armor' in 2020 and 'Flowers for Vases' in 2021. Paramore's frontwoman Hayley Williams dropped 17 new singles to streaming platforms on Friday, after a week of teasing fans with chaotic and cryptic marketing. At the Newport Folk Festival on July 26, Williams gave a surprise performance of one of the new tracks, 'Mirtazapine,' and then debuted the song exclusively on Nashville Public Radio. Then, on Monday, July 28, Williams quietly uploaded all 17 of the songs to a password-protected website, which fans could access using a code included with a recently released hair dye from her brand, Good Dye Young. Roughly 24 hours later, the tracks were taken down without explanation, replaced with a simple message: 'Thank you for listening.' The untitled project, which Williams released under her new label 'Post Atlantic' — a possible nod to Paramore ending its run with Atlantic Records — was released as individual singles on major streaming platforms without an official announcement, cover art or tracklist. Williams's Instagram feed reveals the individual credits for each of the songs. Collaborators on the project include producer Daniel James and Jim-E Stack, musicians Brian Robert Jones and Joey Howard. The relative lack of promotion around the new tracks hasn't stopped fans from celebrating them online. One in particular, 'True Believer' — which functions as a scathing takedown of both Southern Christian hypocrisy and the gentrification of Nashville, Williams's hometown — made the rounds on TikTok before the project's official drop. Many applauded the bold, provocative lyrics that reference Billie Holiday's 'Strange Fruit,' a song about lynchings in the South. Other notable tracks include 'Discovery Channel,' which samples the Bloodhound Gang's innuendo-filled 'The Bad Touch,' from 1999, and 'Glum,' that features lyrics like 'Do you ever feel so alone/That you could implode and no one would know?' Some of the new songs have raised questions about whether Williams has split from her boyfriend, Paramore guitarist Taylor York, who she began dating in 2022. Some fans are pointing to songs like 'Disappearing Man' — which includes the lines 'Now, love, you're not the only one who's lonely/My final act of love was surrender' — as confirmation of the breakup. The big question looming in the background of this new project is whether Paramore itself might be splitting up. The band opened for Taylor Swift in 2023 and 2024, during which time its website was wiped, leaving some fans concerned. However, the reason for shedding its online presence had to do with the end of their contract with Atlantic Records, not the end of the band itself. Though Williams may be working on solo stuff at the moment, there's no reason to suspect that it means the end of the band, which celebrated the 20th anniversary of its first album, All We Know Is Falling, on July 26. Williams has previously released two solo projects: Petals for Armor in 2020 and Flowers for Vases in 2021. Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
01-08-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Hayley Williams Is Fiercely Independent, and Four Other Takeaways from Her 17 Singles
Hayley Williams is back. The eclectic musician, and lead singer of pop-rock titans Paramore, has officially released her new collection of 17 singles on streaming services. Earlier this week, Williams exclusively shared the project on her website via a nostalgic audio player. The new music was only available to fans who purchased the latest drop from her haircare company, Good Dye Young. Notably, the collection of songs has not been released or marketed as an album. The project marks Williams' first solo music in four years following 2021's Flowers for Vases and 2020's Petals For Armor. Both albums featured sparse production with Williams' powerful vocals ringing throughout, and her strong songwriting skills on full display. The new collection was produced by Daniel James, with the sound shifting from alt-rock to synth pop, as Williams explores a multitude of themes. Here are five key moments from her great new release. More from Rolling Stone Hayley Williams Premieres 17 New Songs on Website Audio Player See Bleachers Bring Out Hayley Williams, Jeff Tweedy During All-Star Newport Folk Fest Set Paramore's 'All We Know Is Falling' Was a Revolutionary Emo Moment. 20 Years Later, It Still Is Williams Is Fiercely Independent This collection of songs marks Williams' first solo release since her longtime, and controversial, record contract with Atlantic ended in 2024. When Williams signed to the label at 14 years-old, it became a point of contention between the former band members of Paramore. But now that the contract has expired, Williams has self-released the collection of songs via her own new venture, cleverly titled Post Atlantic. Secretly Distribution will act as the distributor for the songs. This newfound freedom is a revelation for Williams who explores just how much she gave of herself to Atlantic over the last two decades on songs like 'Ice in My OJ' where she sings, 'A lot of dumb motherfuckers that I made rich.' Notably, that trip-hop-tinged song's chorus calls back to the 2004 track 'Jumping Inside' by the Mammoth City Messengers, which featured Williams on vocals. It's a cool full-circle moment and a testament to the musician's staying power. The Mississippi Native Confronts Her Southern Roots On tracks like 'Ego Death at a Bachelorette Party' and 'True Believer,' Williams criticizes the South's racism. 'I'm the biggest star at this racist country singer's bar,' she boldly declares in the former track before breaking into a hypnotizing chorus where she promises herself, 'Can only go up from here.' Meanwhile, on 'True Believer,' Williams looks around at how much Nashville, the place she grew up in, has changed for the worse. She calls out the hypocrisy of religious extremists in the region ('They say that Jesus is the way but then they gave him a white face/So they don't have to pray to someone they deem lesser than them') and claims 'the South will not rise again.' As Williams explores her Southern roots and religious background, she invokes 'Strange Fruit,' a 1937 song by Abel Meeropol about the lynching of Black Americans during the Jim Crow Era. It's a powerful moment where Williams explores the racist history of the U.S. with scathing lyrics and eerie melodies. There Are A lot of Lovesick Melodies From the Lost In Translation-inspired 'Dream Girl in Shibuya' to the aching 'Disappearing Man,' heartbreak is scattered all over the song collection. As soon as fans heard Williams' songs earlier this week, they went haywire online speculating that the musician was now single. The possibility was especially earth-shattering for fans because Williams confirmed she was dating Paramore guitarist Taylor York in 2022. Since then, the couple has kept details about the relationship private. But eagle-eyed fans have been hunting for easter eggs in Williams lyrics about the status of her relationship with York. Whether or not the words are about York, songs like 'Disappearing Man' chronicle the loss of love with tender lyrics like, 'There were no conditions to my love /Yeah, it was endless 'til there was no you to hold.' Meanwhile shimmering synth-pop tracks like 'Whim' and 'Love Me Different' find Williams still hopeful for love as she cradles her broken heart until she realizes, 'I'm the one who's gotta love me differently.' Her Mental Health is Also an Important Theme Over the course of the 17 songs, Williams also continues to address her mental health, a theme that's been present in her lyrics since her Paramore days. The shining example here is 'Mirtazapine,' a Nineties rock ode to Williams' preferred antidepressant. The singer initially released the track by sending a CD copy of it to Nashville's WNXP radio station, which premiered it on July 23. That CD also featured 'Glum,' an acoustic-guitar driven existential crisis where Williams asks: 'Do you ever feel so aloneThat you could implode and no one would know?' Similarly, on 'Negative Self Talk,' the musician reflects on how dark things can get on the bad days, singing, 'Chorus of my worst thoughts, drawing curtains shut/As hope takes a bow.' On these indie rock tracks, it's not about Williams finding the answers to her depression, it's about being unafraid to say the hard things aloud. Williams Future Is Wide Open, So Is Paramore's Some of the collection's songs deal with personal loss. While it isn't clear if that loss is a break up between two of the three members of Paramore, these moments on the collection have left fans wondering where this leaves the band. Well, that's not entirely distinguishable from these songs. Regardless what is going on in the band member's personal lives, it's abundantly clear that Williams has entered a new groove in her solo work. Never has she sounded more certain with a sonic landscape that is all her own. Similarly, dummer Zac Farro just released his first solo album, Operator, under his own name last month. In any case, nothing can be ruled out for a band as surprising, and resilient, as Paramore. After all, at the bottom of the band's website next to their copyright there is text that displays ''24 – ∞,' pairing the year they became an independent act with an infinity sign and suggesting their story isn't ending any time soon. Best of Rolling Stone Sly and the Family Stone: 20 Essential Songs The 50 Greatest Eminem Songs All 274 of Taylor Swift's Songs, Ranked Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
01-08-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Paramore's Hayley Williams just dropped 17 new songs — including the anthem track 'True Believer' — but don't call it an album
Williams previously released the solo projects 'Petals for Armor' in 2020 and 'Flowers for Vases' in 2021. Paramore's frontwoman Hayley Williams dropped 17 new singles to streaming platforms on Friday, after a week of teasing fans with chaotic and cryptic marketing. At the Newport Folk Festival on July 26, Williams gave a surprise performance of one of the new tracks, 'Mirtazapine,' and then debuted the song exclusively on Nashville Public Radio. Then, on Monday, July 28, Williams quietly uploaded all 17 of the songs to a password-protected website, which fans could access using a code included with a recently released hair dye from her brand, Good Dye Young. Roughly 24 hours later, the tracks were taken down without explanation, replaced with a simple message: 'Thank you for listening.' The untitled project, which Williams released under her new label 'Post Atlantic' — a possible nod to Paramore ending its run with Atlantic Records — was released as individual singles on major streaming platforms without an official announcement, cover art or tracklist. Williams's Instagram feed reveals the individual credits for each of the songs. Collaborators on the project include producer Daniel James and Jim-E Stack, musicians Brian Robert Jones and Joey Howard. The relative lack of promotion around the new tracks hasn't stopped fans from celebrating them online. One in particular, 'True Believer' — which functions as a scathing takedown of both Southern Christian hypocrisy and the gentrification of Nashville, Williams's hometown — made the rounds on TikTok before the project's official drop. Many applauded the bold, provocative lyrics that reference Billie Holiday's 'Strange Fruit,' a song about lynchings in the South. Other notable tracks include 'Discovery Channel,' which samples the Bloodhound Gang's innuendo-filled 'The Bad Touch,' from 1999, and 'Glum,' that features lyrics like 'Do you ever feel so alone/That you could implode and no one would know?' Some of the new songs have raised questions about whether Williams has split from her boyfriend, Paramore guitarist Taylor York, who she began dating in 2022. Some fans are pointing to songs like 'Disappearing Man' — which includes the lines 'Now, love, you're not the only one who's lonely/My final act of love was surrender' — as confirmation of the breakup. The big question looming in the background of this new project is whether Paramore itself might be splitting up. The band opened for Taylor Swift in 2023 and 2024, during which time its website was wiped, leaving some fans concerned. However, the reason for shedding its online presence had to do with the end of their contract with Atlantic Records, not the end of the band itself. Though Williams may be working on solo stuff at the moment, there's no reason to suspect that it means the end of the band, which celebrated the 20th anniversary of its first album, All We Know Is Falling, on July 26. Williams has previously released two solo projects: Petals for Armor in 2020 and Flowers for Vases in 2021. Solve the daily Crossword
The Independent
28-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Independent
Hayley Williams releases new music on her website
Paramore singer Hayley Williams has released 17 new songs through her website, accessible only with a code from her hair dye company, Good Dye Young. It is currently unannounced whether these tracks are considered a new record, with the link also containing a live video and other miscellaneous content. Williams has previously released two solo albums, Petals for Armor (2020) and Flowers for Vases/Descansos (2021), and reunited with Paramore for their 2023 album This Is Why. She has used her platform to express strong political views, notably denouncing Donald Trump and Project 2025 at the iHeartRadio Music Awards. Williams urged fans to vote to counter the Trump agenda, having also previously stated her strong opposition to those who vote for Ron DeSantis.
