Rocio Mateos
Behold your teenager warm hearts everyone: Paramore is officially back with a new single titled “Hard Times”, along with the announcement of their new album, ‘After Laughter’.
Earlier this week, the band teased the new album through their Facebook account and other social media with what seemed to be the artwork, and fans turned wild. But today they made the official announcement of their fifth record, due May 12, unveiled the final artwork, the track list, the first single and the title, and announced a few dates in UK and Ireland. The new LP also means the speculated comeback of drummer Zac Farro to the band.
PARAMORE’S NEW ALBUM IS COMING OMG pic.twitter.com/HHxWZdKgNh
— sam carr (@saamcarr) April 18, 2017
The single “Hard Times” was released with an accompanying video. Directed by Andrew Joffe, the video shows singer Hayley Williams crashing into a set with an amazing and colorful aesthetic and hand-drawn scrawls, that perfectly match the artwork, moving around along the music. Farro and Taylor York also appear playing their instruments.
Check out the cool video:
Check out the artwork and the tracklist:
01 Hard Times
02 Rose-Colored Boy
03 Told You So
04 Forgiveness
05 Fake Happy
06 26
07 Pool
08 Grudges
09 Caught In The Middle
10 Idle Worship
11 No Friend
12 Tell Me How
Paramore gets funky on their new single
The last time the alt-rock band released something was back in 2013. On their self-titled album, the band distanced itself from its previous punk and emo sound, adopting influences from pop and new wave. It received critical acclaim and praises to their newly acquired maturity and experimentation with new sounds. It also did pretty well on the charts, debuting at number one on the US Billboard 200 and being certified platinum last year.
Now, after four years, they have introduced us to “Hard Times”, a bubbly track with some amusing funk rhythm on the guitar, backing up the chorus. Just like the previous album, the sound is catchy, upbeat and bright. Actually, it is really similar to the single “Still Into You”, and to Grammy-winning song “Ain’t It Fun” – especially the last one, since it also incorporates a different genre, in this case, a pleasing gospel chorus.
Davis left, but Farro came back
Ever since the release of their third album, ‘Brand New Eyes’, in 2009, the band has been living some ups and downs with their members.
In the middle of the tour in support of the record, on December 2010, singer Hayley Williams, bassist Jeremy Davis and guitar player Taylor York, announced that brothers Josh and Zac Farro -guitar and drum, respectively- would be leaving the band. The news caught up some drama after Josh shared a statement, saying that the band was “a manufactured product of a major-label”. He said that the band began revolving around Williams because of her management, while the rest of the band members were there just to make “her dream” happen. He also claimed that the singer was the only member of the band who was signed to Atlantic Records, a fact later confirmed by the band in an interview, but stated as “irrelevant”, next to the other issues mentioned, that just kept popping out throughout the course of their career.
However, the band kept going, and they recorded new music, with a help on the drums from Ilan Rubin –from Angels & Airwaves and Nine Inch Nails, talk about good resumes. In 2013 they released their fourth album, ‘Paramore’. But after some touring, in 2015, Davis announced that he was also departing from the band, leaving Williams and York on their own.
We all thought this was it, and that there was nothing left to do but say thanks to the band for the amazing music. But in January 2016, Williams confirmed on through a tweet that the band was writing new stuff. Months later, the band posted some photos and a short video of themselves in a studio to their social media, and Zac Farro was spotted in them. Later, another pictured was shared, this time with Farro behind a drum set, confirming that he would be recording drums for the album, but he later clarified that he was only recording drums.
On January this year, the band posted a picture on their Instagram, stating that they had been working on the new album for the past year, although it was not “an easy task.”
“The problem about comparing yourself to… yourself… is that even though it’s better than looking elsewhere, you’re still looking in the wrong direction,” Williams shared on the post.
A month later, the band announced that Farro will return as the official drummer of the band.
First dates of a tour was announced
Now that the album is almost ready, and after taking a peak on the super cool new single, we just have to sit and wait for ‘After Laughter’. Check out if you can get to see them on their tour in the UK and Ireland. Tickets are on sale from 9am on Friday, April 28.
June 15 - Dublin, Ireland @ Olympia
June 16 – Belfast, United Kingdom @ Waterfront
June 18 – Manchester, United Kingdom @ O2 Apollo
June 19 – London, United Kingdom @ Royal Albert Hall
June 21 – Bristol, United Kingdom @ Colston Hall
June 22 – Edinburgh, United Kingdom @ Usher Hall
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