Paramore to release This is Why; Students compare old sound to new material

On Friday, Feb. 10, alternative rock band Paramore is set to release their sixth album, This is Why. The LP is the band’s first album since 2017’s After Laughter. This is Why will be available on all streaming platforms.

     The album was announced via the band’s Instagram with the title track, “This is Why,” being released on Sept. 16, 2022. The next single, “The News,” was released on Dec. 8, 2022. The latest single, “C’est Comme Ça,” was dropped on Jan. 12. The band’s vocalist, Hayley Williams, said of the lead single, “It summarizes the plethora of ridiculous emotions, the rollercoaster of being alive in 2022, having survived even just the last three or four years.”

     Freshman Grayson Whaley says his favorite of the three singles is “The News” because “it’s just more upbeat than the rest, more comparative to the older albums which [he likes].” Whaley continues that he is, “not entirely sure what to expect” of Paramore’s new album; he “just hopes it’s more upbeat,” like the currently-released singles are. The freshman adds that he is “always excited for new music, though.”

      According to the band, the album “weaves in tendrils of rock ‘n’ roll’s past but lodges the band firmly back into the foreground of pop’s present.” This description references the switch in the band’s sound. Although most fans seemingly do not mind the shift in style, there is no doubt that many still love the band’s old pop-punk sound. Sophomore Elizabeth O’Brien says, “I can’t really compare them, but I like how their older music also had a bit more rock to it.”

     According to The Atlantic, the band has undergone a “makeover.” The band’s 2013 self-titled album, “was a masterful pop-rock reset, and on 2017’s After Laughter, the band experimented with shiny, happy synthesizers.” O’Brien says they prefer Paramore’s older material since they “just liked a lot of their more angsty songs. Now [they] listen to Paramore for that middle school nostalgia.”

     For anyone who is considering getting into Paramore, Whaley recommends the band’s music because, “[He] thinks it’s just good music [that] also has some deep meanings.” Sophomore Corrin Turner agrees with Whaley and says, “Yes, I do recommend that people listen to Paramore. It might not be for everyone, but I enjoy their music. It’s very catchy!”