Credit: Press

Hayley Williams: ‘Paramore needed a break to find our identity’

Fri 30 September 2022 9:15, UK

It has been almost five years since American pop-punk group Paramore released their most recent studio album, 2017’s After Laughter. Earlier this week, the band broke their silence, dropping the new single ‘This Is Why’ alongside the announcement of its parent album, which is due on February 10th, 2023.

“Hello again, dear friends. It feels like it’s been a thousand lifetimes… Not only since we’ve put music out into the world but even longer since I’ve sat down with my computer to type out a note meant just for you to read,” frontwoman Hayley Williams addressed fans in a new statement.

“The last few years at home were so crucial,” she added. “We’re all in our 30’s now. Almost every single time the guys and I are together — and that’s a lot — we find ourselves reminiscing on the last two decades of friendship as if we’re ancient. It may sound silly, but none of us can actually believe that we’re still here and that somehow, people still seem to care. It’s a massive deal… something we don’t take lightly.”

“This Is Why” is both the title for the album and its lead single. The name was inspired by world events, especially those of the past three years. “Every time I can’t believe [something] is happening, whether it’s planet, politics, social stuff, I’m always, ‘this is why we can’t have nice things’,” Williams told BBC Radio 1’s Clara Amfo.

Paramore’s hiatus over this difficult time for the world allowed Williams and the band time to reflect. “We all really needed it to find our identity apart from Paramore and all the public projection we get in our life,” she said. “I learned how introverted I really am.”

This weekend, members Williams, guitarist Taylor York and drummer Zac Farro head out to play their first live shows in more than four years.

“I don’t think I would have slowed down, gotten time with my family,” Williams continued, explaining how the Covid-19 pandemic gave her some much-needed respite. “I was glad we were home because we were part of our own community in Nashville, and we got to be a part of it as citizens, as friends, a daughter, a sister, and it wasn’t really about Paramore. None of us knew we were going to be forced all the way inside.”

Despite the pandemic allowing Williams some time out to spend with her loved ones, she also saw the bigger picture and had some thoughts for her fans. “I think if you talk to anybody, it was such a ridiculously tragic time,” she said. “I thought about the fans, the shows, the whole time we were writing the entire album.”

“We just have such a cool relationship with our fans around the world. But there is something really special about the UK and the lineage of bands that are from there,” she added, showing love for the band’s fans in the UK. “We were really digging up our oldest influences from across the pond. And every time I would imagine playing a show, it was some festival in the UK or some crowd that we played in places like Manchester.”

With that, Williams hinted that “it won’t be long” until Paramore return to the UK on tour. “We already have the plan,” she said. “And I cannot wait for people to find out who we’re playing with. I’m just so excited to get back over there.”

Listen to Paramore’s brand new single, ‘This Is Why’, below.