The Return of Paramore: “This Is Why”

This Is Why, Paramore’s long-anticipated seventh studio album released on Feb. 10th, just a couple of months before the band embarks on their 25-date arena tour in North America. Additionally, they were announced to be joining Taylor Swift on The Eras Tour, also beginning this year.

A staple part of Paramore’s music has always been their pop-punk, rhythm-driven music that knows just how to get stuck in your head. For some, hits like “Misery Business,” “Ain’t It Fun,” and “Decode” are those undeniable earworms. And if we’re talking sound, Hayley Williams, the band’s lead singer, is fundamental to the music. Her vocal range has proven to be one of versatility, able to reach a low, rumbling tone and soar into her highest notes. This exact thing can be heard in “All I Wanted”. For the music nerds out there, Williams’ vocal range stretches Bb2-A5-B6.

Although the idea of what a “good” song is made of is quite subjective, there are some outstanding songs on the album. “The News” isn’t your typical woe is me! type of song that some of the lyrics may suggest. But then again, whoever judges lyrics first? Sonically, it may not appeal to everybody, but lyrically it resides beside current societal concerns. “Every second our collective heart breaks // All together every sing head shakes // Shut your eyes but it won’t go away // Turn on, turn off the news.” The song in itself contains that classic Paramore pop-punk sound of albums like Riot!

All too relatable, “Running Out of Time” is a groovy, foot-tapping, slightly anxiety-inducing track. But with all the feelings the music leaves you, Williams’ voice adds so much to the already opalescent sounds of the song.

If you’ve never had a song rattle your brain, “C’est Comme Ça” will do that for you. The vocal arrangement feels a little psychedelic (in a good way), and the twists and turns of the music make you feel like you’re being taunted by a bad guy while you’re strapped to a table in an evil layer. Vividness is easily produced in this track.

Like a fresh cup of black coffee, Williams’ voice is dark and robust with a sultry mid/lower range and airy falsetto.  “Big Man, Little Dignity” feels like something you’d hear in a coffee shop and it’d be sticking with you hours later after you’ve left or a summer night spent at the beach. The beginning is reminiscent of that ambiguous, ambivalent sound of Cosmo Sheldrake’s “Come Along”. Wistful and somewhat sad, this track may remind one of the feelings that come with mesmerization over a person, but in more analysis, you’ll find that the song’s main attraction isn’t the man, but his lack of decency and ability to get away with anything. It’s a sweet-turned-sour kind of song.

“You First” vamps into an electric-lead sound. And for lyrics, we’re back yet again with the classic angry Paramore song. No complaints here, though. It’s fun to scream songs out of rage. The song has that annoyed, peeved tonality, the “stop-pissing-me-off”, hectic kind of attitude. Lyrics like “never said I wasn’t petty” echo those of the band’s 2000s sound. “Everyone is a bad guy, and there’s no way, no way, to know who’s the worst.” On top of this juvenile slant of lyrics, a certain line sounds like a shout-out to a certain blonde friend of Hayley Williams. “Karma’s gonna come for all of us // And I hope, well, I hope, I just hope // She comes, comes for you first”. If you haven’t gathered who this friend of Williams is from the words “blonde” and “karma”, it’s Taylor Swift. Surprise!

There’s difficulty describing “Figure 8” as anything else but something you might hear in a Mission: Impossible soundtrack, comparable to Limp Bizkit’s “Take a Look Around”. Loss of control with blame being placed on the song’s antagonist leaves you with a flutter of hopelessness with Williams’ vocals carrying the song. 

An incredible part of Paramore’s music is not just all Hayley Williams, but Taylor York and Zac Farro, the band’s guitarist and drummer, respectively. Both original members (except Farro rejoined in 2017). There’s no groove, no rhythm, drive, and electricity in Paramore without them.