After weeks of torment, Paramore has gifted fans with the long-expected news: New music.
Videos by American Songwriter
The band has teased their return in multiple ways over the last month. From individual profile picture changes and wiping their joint Instagram page clean to sharing ominous clips of songs from a mysterious TikTok account and, finally, announcing the release of their new single, it’s official. Paramore is back.
The trio unveiled the single “This Is Why” Wednesday (Sept. 28), as promised, including some bonus information by announcing their new album of the same name. It’s the band’s first studio album in five years since the release of their 2017 LP, After Laughter.
“‘This Is Why’ was the very last song we wrote for the album,” frontwoman Hayley Williams shared of the single in a statement. “To be honest, I was so tired of writing lyrics but Taylor [York] convinced Zac [Farro] and I both that we should work on this last idea. What came out of it was the title track for the whole album.”
The singer added, “It summarizes the plethora of ridiculous emotions, the rollercoaster of being alive in 2022, having survived even just the last three or four years. You’d think after a global pandemic of fucking biblical proportions and the impending doom of a dying planet, that humans would have found it deep within themselves to be kinder or more empathetic or something.”
Just hours before the single and accompanying music video were dropped, Williams posted a letter to fans via the band’s Discord channel. In the note, she thanked followers for their support during and despite the band’s absence from music.
“The lessons have been endless and they’ve been so different than any of the lessons I learned from living on the road, doing Paramore 24/7/365,” the singer said, explaining the time off was crucial for her and her bandmates. “This was a real break from whatever living I’d done before. Looking at our calendar for the next couple of years, I know that I would not be ready to give myself back to the band and the music and the life that I love so much had we not voluntarily given it up for a season.
“For all of that, on behalf of us all, I want to say thank you for being so loving and supportive of us as humans first,” the singer added with gratitude. “The music industry is not a human-first industry. It’s not even a music-first industry. Look, we don’t even live in a human-first society!!!!!!!!!!!! So choosing to walk away for a spell simply for our own sanity was not an ill-considered concept,” she advised.
“Tomorrow, we start again!” she said, expressing her excitement for this new Paramore era. “And yet, really, we’re just picking up where we left off. For so many reasons I don’t even have words for, I think we are about to experience our happiest, most fulfilling moments as Paramore.”
Read the singer’s full statement here and check out Paramore’s new single and title track from their upcoming album, This Is Why, set for release on Feb. 10, 2023.
Photo by Zachary Gray / The Oriel
