— by Wilson Chapman
“Petals for Armor” may be Hayley Williams’ debut solo album, but she has nothing to prove
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t feels weird to call “Petals for Armor” Hayley Williams’ debut album, because Hayley Williams has been with us a long time. Now 31, the singer-songwriter founded pop punk band Paramore when she was just 15 years old, and the group released its first album “All We Know Is Falling” a year later. Through multiple iterations of the band, as members have come and gone, Williams has remained its constant, writing and performing iconic bangers like “Misery Business” and “Ain’t It Fun.” Outside of Paramore, she’s had a healthy side-business featuring on pop or rap tracks, from Zedd’s “Stay the Night” to B.o.B’s “Airplanes” (my absolute favorite song when I was 10 years old). But despite her long career in the spotlight, Williams has never officially gone solo. It’s a move she’s resisted for a long time: when she was first signed by Atlantic Records as a teenager, she had to fight record execs who wanted to sign her as a solo pop act. It took almost 20 years, personal issues and a break from Paramore for Williams to finally decide going solo was a good creative direction for her. 2017 saw the release of Paramore’s best record, “After Laughter,” a swerve for the band that saw them embrace a vibrant synth sound that sharply contrasted with the dark themes of depression and isolation they were exploring. It reflected the state that Williams was in: struggling with depression, with her marriage to Chad Gilbert of rock band New Found Glory crumbling. After a 2018 tour to support the album, the band took a break, and Williams began work on her debut album the following year. The rest of Paramore’s influence isn’t totally absent on “Petals for Armor.” Taylor York, the most consistent member of the band aside from Williams,
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produced the album and is listed as a co-writer While I Bloom” finds Williams overcoming her on six of the songs. But listening to the album, demons and looking towards a new chapter of the difference between a Paramore record and a her life. It feels like a very deliberate choice on Hayley Williams solo record is readily apparent. Williams’ part to make femininity and feminism Williams is exploring themes of independence, one of the central themes of her solo debut: she loss and depression that feel has been very upfront unique to her. Releasing about how difficult it’s these songs as a band just been for her as a woman in wouldn’t feel right. a male-dominated sphere. Williams chose to parcel It’s thrilling, with that out the 15 songs on “Petals context, to hear her loudly for Armor” five at a time. and publicly embrace her She released two extended femininity, not just as a part plays, “Petals for Armor of her, but as what makes I” and “Petals for Armor her strong. II” with the first songs on “Petals for Armor” isn’t the tracklist on February 6 perfect. It’s perhaps a tad Courtesy of Atlantic Rec ords and April 21 respectively. too long, with a few lessThis release strategy reflects the format inspired tracks like “Creepin” of the record, as each five songs explore different or “Sugar on the Rim” weighing it down and themes and portray Williams in a different stage exploring territory that was handled better of an intense emotional journey. elsewhere on the album. It’s also front-loaded, The songs that make up “Petals for Armor as the first five songs of the album are the most I” are bitter and rage-filled, from the quiet but consistent and well-executed, while the final furious “Simmer” that kicks it off to the thumping third’s sudden pivot towards pop results in some “Sudden Desire.”The “Petals for Armor II” songs high points, but on the whole feels out of step are contemplative, as Williams examines the with the rest of the album. Still, the album closes disintegration of her marriage on “Dead Horse” strongly, with Williams expressing hope for the and her depression on “Over Yet.” The five new possibility of healing with the soft, warm “Crystal songs on the full album, such as “Pure Love,” Clear.” are noticeably poppier than their predecessors, In spite of its flaws, “Petals for Armor” is worth as Williams explores the opportunity for new listening to for the simple fact that Williams is romance and finds herself rejuvenated after a fantastic performer that brings a confident, overcoming her personal traumas. strong presence to every song on the album. But Throughout “Petals for Armor,” Williams that shouldn’t be a surprise; Williams has been repeatedly returns to flower imagery, representing a strong presence from the minute Paramore her relationship with her own femininity. “Roses/ burst onto the scene. This might be her first solo Lotus/Violet/Iris” uses a garden as a metaphor record, but her worth as an artist isn’t something for women finding themselves, while “Watch Me she’s ever had to prove. ◊
