Paramore returns with the stay-inside-because-the-world-is-trash anthem, “This Is Why”

Whenever there’s an announcement that Paramore are releasing something, it feels like a surprise. Because this group has always felt like they’ve been on the brink of saying ‘Fuck it’ and calling it quits. And Hayley and members of the group who have stuck around for more than one album have said things in interviews alluding to the end being nigh. But, here we are bitch. In 2022 with a new Paramore single, and an album set to drop at the top of 2023.

I almost said ‘Why the hell did Paramore announce an album for 2023 when we are in 2022!?’. And then I realised that we are at the tail end of the year. By the time I post this, it will probably be 2024.

What is time!?

I really like this song. I went into it with no real expectations, especially after the pivot Paramore did with their last album After Laughter. But whilst “This Is Why” sounds feels like a logical place for their music to land. Not only does a song like “This Is Why” make sense after After Laughter, but it also feels like a continuation of where Hayley Williams left off with her debut solo album Petals for Armor. Hayley Williams is Paramore, and Paramore is Hayley Williams. And Petals for Armor was produced by one of the Paramore guys anyway. 

And yes. I know Hayley released another album after Petals for Armor, but it felt like a concept album or a side project more than anything. With Flowers for Vases, there was a sense of it being something Hayley just had to get out and explore herself with, rather than it being a springboard for anything the way I felt Petals for Armor was.

But “This is Why” is just one song. Maybe the album will feature a whole bunch of songs akin to Flowers for Vases, but I don’t think it will.

Paramore’s sixth studio album This is Why releases on February 10, 2023. And controversially, it is the only time a Paramore album has released with the same line-up as the album before. Somebody could still leave between now and February. Hayley and fellow band member Taylor York are a couple now, so that’s...something. I personally would not date somebody I work with. But that’s me.

Paramore seems to be in a really happy (as happy as Paramore can be) and content place. Hayley, Taylor and Zac seem to be in this thing because they want to be, and they feel they can navigate it better now than they could before. There’s a sense of renewed energy that comes through in “This Is Why”, and it’s a similar energy that After Laughter had about it, which is promising, because that was a damn good album.