Paramore’s long-awaited return has been coming for what feels like ages. Last we heard, the emo-pop-punk giants had shared a cryptic album launch schedule on their website and talked about how much their new record would be influenced by Bloc Party. Plus, they’re going on tour starting next month.
Now, Zac Farro, Hayley Williams, and Taylor York have officially announced their follow-up to 2017’s After Laughter. It’s called This Is Why, and it’s out February 10 via Atlantic. Paramore are also sharing the album’s title track and accompanying music video.
Recorded in Los Angeles with longtime collaborator Carlos de la Garza, This Is Why is 10 tracks long (no actual track list yet, though) and features cover art shot by Zachary Gray. As for its title track, the shout-along ‘This Is Why’ is a percussive, cathartic blast packed with post-pandemic lyrics about how much it sucks to leave the house in our hyper-politicized times. “‘This Is Why’ was the very last song we wrote for the album,” describes Williams. “To be honest, I was so tired of writing lyrics but Taylor convinced Zac and I both that we should work on this last idea. What came out of it was the title track for the whole album. 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.”
The ‘This Is Why’ video is directed by Turnstile’s Brendan Yates and was filmed in Malibu last month. “It was so rad working with Brendan,” Williams adds. “I’ve known the Turnstile guys for a little while and was so psyched to have our worlds collide in this way. There’s a cool kinship between the way our bands do things… Hopefully we will get to play shows with them at some point.” [via Stereogum]