Secret songs, social media silence, and sudden press tours — July 28 was a horrifying Monday morning for any Paramore fan. Horrifying, but in an exciting way, as Hayley Williams, Paramore frontwoman, unexpectedly dropped 17 tracks as a bonus mystery gift alongside a limited-release hair dye.
But why exactly is a surprise set of songs horrifying? Because Williams’ new project is the soundtrack for the last month of a sad girl summer, and fans are speculating about a potential breakup between Williams and Paramore guitarist Taylor York, as well as a potential Paramore split.
Solo projects aren’t an entirely new thing for Williams. This is her third, and the first one released since the singer’s split from Atlantic Records. Paramore, the iconic early 2000s alt-rock band, had been signed to the label since 2005.
Nothing about the various band members’ personal lives has been announced by any member of Paramore. Everything online is speculation, based on the more-than-depressing lyrics (“Do you ever feel so alone, That you could implode and no one would know?”, and “And I know that you’re probably telling yourself That no one’s gonna love me like you did And I know that you’re probably right about that”) in Williams’ new mysterious solo project that fans are calling “Ego” for the hair dye that accompanies the secret album.
A few days after the mysterious release of the songs, the password-locked website that hosted the tracks was updated, removing the songs and thanking the fans for listening. Then on Aug. 1, Williams officially released the songs for streaming, along with Instagram posts for each track.
Williams took to her Instagram stories to clarify that the project was not an album, but 17 singles, and that she was looking for fans to make playlists of their preferred track order to help decide what a physical release of the project would look like.
So what does this non-album album sound like? Largely, it’s a gloomy and deeply personal set of songs exploring a myriad of styles on a plethora of intimate topics.
By far my personal favorite track is ”Glum.” It’s strange, switching between higher-pitched vocals for the verses and bridge, and a powerful, normally pitched chorus. The mixture of sounds is satisfying, and paired with the bleak lyrics, illuminates the singer’s loneliness. “Glum” is an almost upbeat take on melancholia.
“True Believer” is a different type of personal compared to the rest of the album. Unlike the other songs detailing Williams’ crumbling personal relationships or dwindling mental health, “True Believer” is about Williams’ confrontation with the various ways her life has been haunted by being from the south and living in Nashville. The song in particular explores religious-backed prejudices and gentrification. The tone is incredibly moody, but in a sonically gorgeous way. Her inclusion of the lyric “strange fruit, hard bargain” adds a layer of historical context that makes this song so irresistible and heartbreaking.
”Kill Me” is the angsty anthem of a forlorn daughter, and it’s one of the highest energy tracks on this project. “Kill Me” is the counterbalance to the overwhelmingly high number of slower, lower-energy songs. It takes the same aforementioned loneliness from the rest of the project, but funnels it into anger instead of sadness.
“Ego Death at a Bachelorette Party” is a more bitter track than the rest. “I am the biggest star in this racist country singer’s bar,” goes the chorus of the track. Here, Williams sets up an instant preconceived hatred for the situation she’s in. But she simultaneously seems to be finding some loathing within the sudden socialization following the self-isolation described in most of the other tracks. “Ego Death at a Bachelorette Party” appears to be the explanation as to why Williams is caught in an emotional slump for the rest of the songs.
One of the more interesting tracks, ”Mirtazapine,” is a love letter to the singer’s antidepressants. It’s the most upbeat song in the project, and it operates as a commentary on the idea of love and dependency on medication being incredibly similar. “Mirtazapine” is pop-esque with a tinge of the heavier alt sound Williams is known for.
“Discovery Channel” is the weirdest track: it’s a cover of the Bloodhound Gang song “The Bad Touch.” Instead of a ’90s party rock song about sex like the original, Williams’ darker, more brooding sound alters the meaning. It makes the chorus, “Let’s do it like they do it on the Discovery Channel” sound less like a euphemism about sex and more like a metaphor for animalistically tearing someone apart, despite having loved them.
Overall, Hayley Williams’ new project is a proverbial pit in the stomach, but a welcome one. It’s a sulking, moody, and visceral look into the singer’s life that manages to make you feel both like an intruder and a commiserator. It’s absolutely fantastic.
I would give it an 8.5/10.
