Foreword: May 11th, 2017.

It was late on a Thursday night. I couldn’t sleep. I thought, “just wait 'till tomorrow, Tom. If you check now, and it’s posted online, you won’t be able to wait to listen to it.”

It?

Paramore’s first album since 2013’s monster 17-track self-titled record.

The issue?

I was exhausted and didn’t want my first time hearing the whole damn anticipated thing to be when I was tired.

Look, record releases are ceremonious for me sometimes, okay...

Did I cave?

Yes. Got out of bed, and opened my computer to check if it leaked. It hadn’t.

Instead, the band began a Youtube stream around 11pm. Here we go.

Photo: Lindsey Byrnes

Paramore's frontwoman, Hayley Williams, has been through the wringer. Again. The band's fifth album, After Laughter, confirms it. You wouldn't necessarily notice if you didn't listen carefully to its lyrics though. A dance-worthy tone gleams on (almost) the whole record making an upbeat backdrop for Williams' unmistakable pipes. Tropical elements sprinkle some songs, and a synth that can double as a time machine to the 80s glazes others.

Sounds sweet, ay? It is... Instrumentally, that is.

Lyrically, Williams addresses the pitfalls of her last few years in Paramore. With a lawsuit involving (now ex) bassist, Jeremy Davis, remaining members, Hayley and Taylor York, wondered if they should call it quits. This is not the band's first run in with this question. They are, unfortunately, familiar with drama revolving around their lineup. Some background info perhaps?

Mid-Brand New Eyes (2009) album cycle, two core members of the band left. Brothers Zac and Josh Farro, guitarist and drummer, expressed harsh feelings that Paramore was a “manufactured product of a major label” and worse allegations geared towards Williams. However, the remaining three members were pros at turning their tears into wine. The trio went on to record what would be their most successful album to date, Paramore (2013). They headlined Madison Square Garden, won their first Grammy for Best Rock Song (Ain’t It Fun) and opened up a larger spanning fan-base. This was a monumental album cycle for the band to say the least. After getting knocked down, Paramore not only got back up, but had triumphed in doing so.

Surely life for them would continue to be perfect? Wrong. In the Self-Titled era's final months, it all came to a jolting halt again. Jeremy Davis made that decision to leave and details later surfaced about the legal battle.

...Aaaand I'm going to stop right there as this is not that article. Google the details of the dispute for further inquiry, but the long story made longer here (sorry) is simply, Hayley and Taylor made the decision to keep the machine that is Paramore going. Oh, and they also reunited with Zac Farro, the beast-of-a-drummer from the band's 2006-2010 days. Minor-not-so-minor detail.

Together, they created what is now the topic of this track-by-track review/fan ramble:

After Laughter.

. . .

Released closely in time together, Hard Times and Told You So were our first introduction to After Laughter as leading singles.

The first sets the tone for the record with the opening verse telling us that all Hayley wants is "to wake up fine". Accompanied by a manically-colored video and an intro that uses a marimba, fans knew they were in for something different from the moment this dropped.

The second single is one of the slickest the band has put out. Both my dad and I described the track's drum and percussion work as... (ah, a favorite word)... crisp, and it contains my favorite fills on the album. York's riffing in the chorus feels manic and mad while also being beautifully controlled. On Instagram, Williams called him a "musical mad scientist". What a compliment well deserved. Told You So came to mind when I read that. Visually stunning, the song's video depicts Hayley burrowed up at home feeling in no shape or mood to leave. Her friends, who double as bandmates, get her out of the house into music filled drives which are therapeutic for her. This song is groovy, and I don't even use the word groovy.

Capture from the Told You So video. "Throw me into the fire/Throw me in/Pull me out again."

Rose-Colored Boy and Fake Happy are without a doubt both ‘next single’ worthy with their infectiously catchy choruses. Williams belts "just let me cry a little bit longer” in the first, while begging "please don't ask me how I've been, don't make me play pretend” in the latter. But don't let her words throw you off. You can address your fed up mood AND have a dance party all at the same time with these two gems. They are ready to be blasted on a sunny day with the windows down. Hey, even throw in some downpour, and these two are still going to make it your favorite drive. Rose-Colored Boy feels... especially special. [2018 update: After this review was written, both of these tracks were released as singles.]

Forgiveness slows things down to what feels like a delicate swing in a hammock on a comfortable lazy weekend afternoon. With a sound that particularly borrows from the 80s, Williams is telling a lover (or friend) that she is not ready to forgive. But she is doing so ever so gently and sweetly that the listener can't help but somehow feel maybe she eventually will. She just "can't do it yet ".

26 follows the bursting 'Fake Happy' and finds York gently plucking away on an acoustic guitar. Partnered with Hayley's fragile voice and a beautiful string arrangement, this track stands it's own when compared with 2009's The Only Exception, or Misguided Ghosts, Paramore's token acoustic numbers. Besides the record's concluding track, 26 is the only song that actually 'sounds like' the sadness and hard times Williams is singing about. It has some of the new records' strongest lyrics:

"They say that dreaming is free,... but I wouldn't care what it cost me"

Pool feels like the follow-up to 2013's Proof, not sonically, but in Hayley's narrative. As a love song about her and her beau, the earlier track recounts, "I'll swim out to wherever you are / Come up for air just so you know we won't drown, you're so strong, the world can't keep us down". If Proof was describing the limerence phase of a relationship, Pool outlines the commitment phase. Even though she's been burned by her man, Williams is still not giving up on him: "Why get used to something new, 'cause no one breaks my heart like you... / If you're really sorry, happy second chance, think I could forgive, this time you won't leave me sinking / I'm under water [...] You are the wave I could never tame / If I survive, I'll dive back in". Admittedly, I could be completely wrong about the bridge I've made between the two songs, but I enjoy believing there is some link between Hayley's ocean floor swims and pool dives. Not to mention both tracks begin with "P" and... alright I'll stop ; ). Anyway, it makes you want to enjoy laying under the sun with someone you like a lot. And oh yeah, that continuous pretty windchime is great.

Grudges addresses mending a relationship with a friend after time has passed. It (ever so appropriately) features Zac's vocals. Clearly, Hayley and Taylor are thrilled to have reunited with their best friend. Right now, this is my least favorite song on the album sound-wise, but the subject matter of it is sincere and very likeable and I am sure it will grow on me. [2018 update: The band opened with the track on Tour 5 this passed June and July, and yeah it grew on me.]

Art inspired by the Hard Times video. Lyrics from Caught In The Middle. Photo: My own.

Whereas the two previous tracks feel like they are almost glittering, the record switches gears to the sonically-simplistic, but fantastic, Caught In The Middle. This is my favorite "non single" on the record, if not my favorite, period. It reminds us that, oh yeah, life still isn't quite perfect for Hayley. It's not easy longing for what was while simultaneously trying to move forward. Being nostalgic about the band's past era ("glory days") and being able to healthily write a new future must have been arduous,... but it brought out this song, so well done guys! [2018 update: The song was released as the album's 5th single this passed June.]

I will go on about it. CITM contains maybe the best bridge on the album: A pulsing bass, York's slicing slick riffs, later layered with vocals upon vocals (*drool*) that all eventually launches into yet another perfectly crafted chorus. This time, a hint of reggae elements are even present. And guess what? It works. Perfectly.

Smash/hit/summer/beach/backtobasics/rock/bluntmusicianship at it's finest. Whatever that may mean, I promise you it's glorious.

"I don't need no help, I can sabotage me by myself Don't need no one else, I can sabotage me by myself

(All the glory days are gone, it's over now, I'm on my own)"

If you thought Williams was being honest until now, well, she was, but you may need to prepare yourself for her offerings on Idle Worship. Her lyrics and voice texture are as raw as ever. At times, her words come out in begging nervous fluctuations. Some almost neurotic yelping tells us she's still quite... fed up. "It's such a long and awful lonely fall down from this pedestal that you keep putting me on, what if I fall on my face", she asks in the second verse. "Think it's safe to say your saviour doesn't look a thing like me!”, she shouts before the band goes into another anthemic chorus. When that part hits, Williams' is now assertive and sure: "I'm not your superhuman", she confesses to her loyal followers, and to herself too. With a monster pop hook, this song is bound to be a fan favorite.

At Idle Worship's conclusion, there is a quick and smooth transition into rhythmic obscurity and incrementally intensifying spoken-word. If After Laughter had one of those high school yearbook awards, No Friend would definitely be voted least likely to end up on a Paramore album ... Or would it? The track's home on the record may not be as random as it sounds. Let me give this a shot. First, Hayley has been very vocal about her love for Mewithoutyou, the band who's singer the track features (Aaron Weiss). So there's that link right there. But if that doesn't quite do it for you, what if this is a sort of "outro" to Idle Worship? A continuation of the same idea lyrically seems to be occurring. There's underlying history in that thought too. Paramore are quite known for their live shows, and turning a 3 minute recorded track into a 7 minute epic performance that stuns (*cough* Let The Flames Begin *cough*). While I do not think similar plans are guaranteed in the works for Idle Worship and No Friend, I do think there is potential for the band to surprise us with a good live moment with these tracks. Perhaps this will be in the form of our leading lady wholeheartedly speaking/yelling/singing Weiss' words to their next sold out crowd? Would that make you warm up to the track a little more if you weren't already? ; )Hey, if she does it on their tour this summer/fall, you heard it here first. (A person can dream, can't they?) [2018 update: It's not a dream anymore. She just did this on this summer's tour... a year after I predicted she might ;)]

This brings us to the record's vulnerable conclusion, Tell Me How. Williams softly asks for direction from someone who she clearly cares for, but someone who has also decided that speaking to her is a thing of the past: “Of all the weapons you fight with, your silence is the most violent”. Remember that lawsuit discussed at the beginning of this review? As many loving fans of this band probably do, I feel this song is about Jeremy. Maybe one day, they will headbang together again, but for now, all we have is Hayley grappling with her own questions of how to cope.

Tell Me How is no closure like the epic building and crashing Future or the hair-raising All I Wanted of the band's previous records. It quietly comes and goes, and before you know it, the album is finished. But somehow, even without a huge defining moment, the track is still powerful.

In an almost haunting shade, After Laughter ends with it's heroine whispering:

"You don't have to tell me if you ever think of me / I know you see me dancing wildly in the fog of your memory / You don't have to tell me / I can still believe. . ." . . .

It is safe to say that if you're looking for the spitfire of Misery Business, the crunch of Ignorance or the adult-emo of Part II, you probably won't find it on After Laughter. However, I would encourage you to not look for what was, and instead, find what is. That is, find appreciation in Paramore's ability to reinvent themselves time and again. Emo, Rock, Pop. Those are genres that can be slapped onto any record, mediocre to revolutionary. They don't make up the core of who this band is. Relentless vigor, and unwavering heart does.... no matter how much Hayley thought her's may have stopped beating in the last year.

After Laughter recounts taking some of life's sourest lemons, and well, keeping them pretty sour. It acknowledges being far from fine and refuses to cover up personal turmoil and the solid hit of rock bottom. Unless, of course, cover-up comes in the form of some great 80s-inspired pop-rock jams. In AL's case, it does, and that's just what really makes album #5 feel special: The sugary sweet coating to those lemons.

So, if you're looking for the Paramore of 2017, and you'll take them for all they are and are not at this moment in time, you'll find yourself dancing at one of music's most cathartic parties.

BE(a)ST PICKS:

Rose-Colored Boy // Caught In The Middle // Told You So // Pool // Forgiveness