Remnants of Williams’ solo work zip through this album, especially when the songs lean more acoustic, but her vocal style frequently recalls tracks from Petals For Armor (2020), her impressive solo debut, which guitarist Taylor York produced, and for which drummer Zac Farro contributed percussion on the tracks “Watch Me While I Bloom” and “Crystal Clear”. This is Why also occupies a liminal space in Paramore’s own arsenal. “Hit over the head, epiphany / Over my head, repeatedly / Thick skull never did nothin’ for me / Same lesson again? Come on, give it to me.” – “Thick Skull, (Track 10)” It is resigning to use your vulnerability as a shield, and still somehow managing to be a little shocked when you keep getting hit. The throughline of getting continually beaten down by life and trudging forward through each and every one of its onslaughts anyway, and of wearing your wounds like artwork, is expressed wryly in both the lyrics and instrumentation.
These are liminal spaces where you are no longer in danger but do not yet feel safe where you can no longer rely on ignorance yet the lessons seem entirely unfeasible: “I know that regression is rarely rewarded / I still need a certain degree of disorder,” frontwoman Hayley Williams intones on “C’est Comme Ça,” the album’s third single. This is Why exists in spaces where retrospect is both the weapon you use and the weapon that is being used against you where optimism is careful and guarded in anticipating what is to come and where the musical progression of a band is diversified by its members’ individuality. The band recently performed their latest single, “Running Out of Time” on Jimmy Kimmel Live February 14.
In celebration of the beloved band’s first full-length release since 2017, they partnered with record stores around the world to present Global Listening Events during last week, treating fans to an early listening experience.
The album’s first single, also the title track, earned the band their first #1 on Alternative Radio. Following a string of three energetic singles, Paramore’s highly anticipated sixth studio album This is Why has arrived via Atlantic Records.
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