After announcing headlining dates at Las Vegas’ When We Were Young festival and a smattering of intimate theatre tour dates this fall, alt-rock icons Paramore have announced their new album and released the title track and first single. This Is Why will be their first release since 2017’s After Laughter, and it’s dropping February 10th on Atlantic Records. The record was recorded in early 2022 in Los Angeles with the band’s long-time collaborator Carlos de la Garza, and if the lead single is any indication, the band hasn’t missed a beat after their five-year-long hiatus.
“This is Why”, the song, is an infectious pop-punk-leaning earworm that perfectly blends the pop experimentation of After Laughter with intense lyrics that center around life in our post-truth world. Lead singer Hayley Williams shared the following about the track:
“This Is Why was the very last song we wrote for the album. 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 3 or 4 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 song comes with a music video directed by TURNSTILE’s Brendan Yates, and you can watch it below. Paramore season is officially upon us.
This Is Why is out 2/10 on Atlantic. Preorder it here.
