Truth be told, in the past I had never been a die-hard Paramore fan and never really appreciated any album they released in full. Still, the big handful of songs I do like, I like a lot. Similarly, the bands’ latest release, This is Why, follows in their previous discography’s footsteps. However, this is the first time I’ve been eager to give the whole thing my attention from the start.
With that being said, they had me, then about sixty percent of the way through, they lost me. Jumping right in, there’s no denying how different it sounds from anything else they’ve done before, but it also sounds exactly like something they would be putting out. For me, it’s a complete 180 from After Laughter, but they’re not going in the same direction they have in the past. This time around they play with sounds from the 60s and 70s, while also channeling some more alternative sounds. Some have mentioned Bloc Party and Foals and I can certainly hear some of those influences, too.
What struck me most about this record was the lyrical content. I know Hayley Williams has always been personal with her songs, in both the band and her solo efforts, but this time around there were no minced words or hidden meanings I could glean from the whole album. It’s clear the pandemic had a big influence on the lyrics, but it’s been a part of our lives for the last three years! It’s understandable! This is also the first time though that I’ve really felt that someone captured almost exactly how I’ve felt over the course of this weird time. It virtually never occurs to me that I am almost the same age as Williams, so it kind of makes sense that we’d be in a similar headspace.
For those reasons, “Running Out of Time” hit me so hard. I don’t know that I could repeat back to you any of the specific musical nuances of that song, but lyrically I felt like she ripped me open and poked my insides. Similarly with lead and title track, “This Is Why,” and “The News” were also instantly catchy to me. In the case of those two singles though, the new musical paths they took were really interesting and very catchy. I was fully engaged until the final four tracks came and went and they just didn’t really have much variety from each other. I wasn’t connecting as much to the lyrics and they all seemed to be repeating the same, slower tempo.
I know I’ll be revisiting this album in the future, and hopefully get the opportunity to see them live again (they were incredible), but this isn’t the A+ record I was expecting after quite a long break.