Words By: Natalina Zieman

Back in 2011, Paramore announced they would be taking a hiatus after the Farro brothers [Josh and Zac] revealed their departure from the band. Today, front-woman, Hayley Williams, is working on solo projects which, yes, includes music, but also projects such as her hair dye brand GoodDyeYoung. She will also be bringing back the Sanctuary of Self Love to Bonnaroo 2020 – which promotes mental and physical health through a variety of programs offered by the Sanctuary including, mini spa treatments, therapy, yoga, dance parties, improv dancing, and much more.

This isn’t the first time Williams’s is taking on solo endeavors – in 2009, Hayley’s song, “Teenagers”, was featured on the horror flick, Jennifer’s Body soundtrack. Williams wrote “Teenagers” at a time where she knew not the fate of the beloved punk rock band. At first she was unsure if she should allow the movie to use the song, because of the unsteadiness of the band and inevitable rumors about the band breaking up – but then Paramore was in a different, yet good, situation when the movie reached out to her once more in which she then agreed to let it be featured on the soundtrack.

This taste of solo work allowed Hayley Williams to shine bright in a different light that she took to proudly – being featured on B.O.B‘s “Airplanes” in 2010, Zedd’s “Stay The Night” in 2012, and being featured on Tegan and Sara’s ten year anniversary album Tegan and Sara Present The Con X: Covers in 2017, where Williams covered their song “Nineteen”. But now Hayley Williams is releasing a solo project all her own – Petals For Armor – due out in May of this year. Williams released the first track from the LP, “Simmer“, on January 22 and 5 days later released, “Simmer [Interlude]“.

The music video begins with a birds eye view of Hayley running nude down a street, where the camera does a takeaway of the ground of a forest glowing red. The video then switches between a close-up of her and her POV while running through the forest, looking over her shoulder every few seconds at the red mist which seems to be following her. The video is dramatized with a panic filled Hayley and the eerily  calm singing Hayley. The lyrics “Rage is a quiet thing / Ooh, you think that you’ve tamed it / But it’s just lying in wait” is expressed with this glowing red mist that stalks Hayley as she flees, while also noticing that this glow seems radiate through her chest walls at times – which feels indicative of the lyrics, “Rage, is it in our veins? / Feel it in my face when / When I least expect it.”

“Simmer” as a whole speaks on the internal fight we often have with ourselves – running from the ‘red mist’ of rage and vengeance and trying to be a calm, good little girl of society. Count to 10, breathe, don’t blow up but feel the wrath boil through your veins.

In “Simmer [Interlude]” the story picks up where “Simmer” stopped – the full manifestation of years of pent up rage and mercy taking on a bodily form, dragging a seemingly lifeless, porcelain skinned Hayley down the hall to an empty room. A room in which the ‘rage creature’ soothes and comforts a tired Hayley before becoming cocooned in an angelic white casing – only to be left with a freshly awaken Hayley, her seemingly covered in colorful pedals….Guess we’ll have to stay tuned for the next chapter in this story.

Petals For Amor is definitely going to be unlike anything Hayley has ever released with Paramore – which isn’t uncommon for solo/side projects. This break-away from Paramore allows Williams to flourish in other aspects of music – while Paramore have made a name for themselves as an alt. pop-punk band, fans really haven’t gotten a true sense as to who Hayley Williams is as a solo artist – which, judging by these two releases, it’s very evident that Williams is much more of a storyteller than anyone could have foreseen. While Petals For Armor certainly means the next chapter for ‘Hayley Williams The Artist’, this isn’t the end of ‘Hayley Williams of Paramore’. Williams has promised die-hard Paramore fans that Paramore will be recording a new album after the release of Petals For Armor.