Hayley Williams reveals her current five favourite songs
Paramore singer Hayley Williams has shared the five songs she can’t stop listening to following the official release of 17 surprise solo tracks earlier today (August 1st).
It comes after Williams initially launched 17 new singles via her website earlier this week. The singer and hair-dye mogul dropped all of the tracks at once. Access was granted for 2,000 fans who purchased a new hair colour, Ego, through her hair brand, Good Dye Young. The songs were streamable via the page for two days before Williams removed them and later uploaded them to streaming platforms on August 1st.
Williams, who often takes lengthy social media breaks, is an avid user of Substack, an alternative social media platform that enables content creators to create and distribute their art directly to their audience. She took to the platform to share her thoughts around the time of the new music release.
Firstly, Williams wrote, “Putting music out into the world is like projectile vomiting all over the floor of your bedroom and then FaceTiming everyone you know so they can see, and I guess I love that because I keep doing it.”
Once that was out of her system, she used her moment to spread the love to other musicians she has been enjoying lately. She added: “And in honour of my new shit getting released on streaming services today/tonight, here’s 5 new(ish) songs I simply cannot stop streamin’.”
Heading up her list was ‘Thief’ by Little Simz. The furious track calls out producer Inflo, who Simbi accused of savagely betraying her. It also includes heavy religious themes, like on Williams’ new track, ‘True Believer’, which calls out racial stereotypes in Christianity. Simz raps on the track, “You talk about God when you have a God complex / I think you’re the one that needs saving.”
The Grammy-winning artist also included ‘What’s Left’ on the list, which is by Safe Mind, Lucy, and Augustus Miller. This track combines electronic music with the goth and darkwave scenes. The punchy drumbeat lays a dance beat beneath nostalgic, sad lyricism, including the phrase, “I want to be what I thought I’d be when I was a child.”
The ‘Misery Business’ singer also included ‘Sun Tan’ by the band Snuggle, which was released on June 4th and sounds like the best of the Clairo-led band Shelly with a miserable edge. Williams’ fourth pick was ‘Sugar Rush’ by London artist Tiberius B. She had previously shared their track, ‘More’, via Substack, with the complimentary caption, “Wish I wrote it.” Tiberius, real name Frank Belcourt, has also appeared on the Grammy Award-winning Barbie soundtrack.
Last on the list was a familiar name to many Paramore fans. Zac Farro has been the long-standing drummer of Paramore for a considerable portion of their two-decade career, leaving in 2010 and rejoining in 2017. His new solo work fuses elements of psychedelic rock with country folk. Williams called out ‘I Need You’ by her drummer and friend, which is the last track on his debut solo album, Operator.
Dissecting her new music, Far Out recently wrote of Williams and Paramore, “Paramore are one of the most popular bands in the world. If their universally inspiring pop-rock can’t tell you that, let their ever-climbing Spotify stats do the talking. Now that her record deal is over, Williams is pulling us back into the past to dissect the underbelly of their hard-earned success. This road-less-travelled belongs to the Nashville teen who signed a toxic contract in hopes of a moment, like this, when she could leak an album because what she has to say is one big yell, not the bite-sized murmurs she’s been afforded.”
Listen to one of Hayley’s new tracks, ‘Love Me Different’, below.
The five songs Hayley Williams can’t stop listening to:
- Little Simz – ‘Thief’
- Safe Mind – ‘What’s Left’
- Snuggle – ‘Sun Tan’
- Tiberius B – ‘Sugar Rush’
- Zac Farro – ‘I Need You’
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