The first taste of Paramore’s new album This Is Why has arrived – and here’s what we think about it!
It's not hard to understand why Paramore made decision to hit pause for a minute, there.
"Choosing to walk away for a spell simply for our own sanity was not an ill-considered concept," wrote Hayley Williams in a message to fans last night ahead of the release of this first new music in five years. Having rocketed to success as literal teens, a decade and change as one of the world's biggest bands can make you want to take your ball and go home just so you can have a moment's peace. Kudos to them, then, for actually having the guts to say 'nah' to what Hayley calls "not a human-first industry... It’s not even a music-first industry," and take a minute. Or a few years.
Absence will always make the heart grow fonder. But really, the impact of This Is Why actually comes from having not realised how much you needed new Paramore until you get new Paramore.
And that new Paramore is a born-again model, as well. There is a self-evident renewal of purpose here, a sense of freshly-valeted soul. There are no painted-on smiles here. Instead, having put the load down, there's a joy in rediscovery that shines brightly. On the song's indie beat that brings to mind Sleeper, Blur and Elastica, Paramore sound like they're having a riot again. Even Hayley declaring 'This is why I never leave the house' in the chorus is served with an energy and sass that simply sparkles.
First with My Chemical Romance getting back onstage, and now this, these are wonderful times for the bands so important to their times. But this isn't a backward-looking nostalgia trip. This is a matured, wiser Paramore who are stepping back into the light.
It takes confidence to step away from a spotlight as bright as the one fixed on Paramore. It takes even more to step back in it after such a time away. Refreshed and recalibrated, this re-introduction to the band has brought something crucial with it: it's made us excited about Paramore all over again.
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