NewYearsDayProject | a song a day blog

  Shura 's 2016 debut,  Nothing's Real   made a splash in the U.K. and Europe, but the electro-pop singer-songwriter didn't make a huge impact on the American charts, which is a shame. Hits like " What's It Gonna Be? " and " What Happened to Us? " were perfect hits for the mid-summer of the album's release, and I find that I come back to it every spring to early fall. But while her contemporaries like  Ellie Goulding  and  Carly Rae Jepsen  keep songs pretty light and upbeat, there's a sadness and introversion that hides the lyrics beneath even the most dance-floor-worthy tracks. SMALL CHANGE IN THE UNIVERSE . The daughter of a British documentary filmmaker, Shura uses a documentary-style motif throughout  Nothing's Real,  featuring audio of Shura as a child speaking and singing. Also in the vein of a documentary, Shura sings about her breakup in the third person " Make It Up ." Other songs, like " Indecision " and ...

  In September last year, Paramore released Re: This Is Why , a remix album of the original featuring big-name collaborations like Julien Baker , Wet Leg , The Linda Lindas , and others. Paramore tweeted about the album: “ Re: This Is Why is almost a remix album. Some of the songs have been remixed sort of classically, while others were reworked or rewritten. It’s incredible to hear all our worlds colliding.” The album is mostly for fans of the band’s sixth studio album, This Is Why . Some of the reworked songs are more interesting than the originals, but the original versions of the songs on This Is Why make a consistent record and one of Paramore’s best efforts.  All the songs from the original album are represented on the remix album with “ Running Out of Time ” receiving two remixes. The remix album also included an extra song, “ Sanity ,” a demo of a song the band had written during sessions for After Laughter .   EVERYONE IS BAD, SO WHY ARE YOU A PACIFIST? So...

Last year, when promoting Re: This Is Why , the remix album of Paramore ’s sixth studio album This Is Why , lead singer Hayley Williams talked to Jimmy Fallon about her teenage friendship with Taylor Swift . Williams describes the friendship as coming from a time when Swift and she were pursuing music while growing up in Nashville. According to Williams, Taylor Swift’s mother was looking for a friend for Taylor, particularly someone else in music. At this point, neither Taylor nor Paramore were household names, but even as teenagers both Williams and Swift were focused on their goals, which allowed for little time for normal teenage things, especially socializing. The singers’ friendships and careers have intersected several times before Paramore’s opening slot on the Eras Tour. On their latest album, Swift inspired a lyric from an impression she left on Williams. THERE WAS A FIRE (METAPHORICALLY). After releasing three pre-release singles for This Is Why, Paramore released the album...

After incredible success after releasing their comeback single last fall, " This Is Why " which would be the title track to the album the band released in February, Paramore released their second single, " The News ." Both singles prepared the listener for a Paramore album unlike anything that the band had recorded before. "This Is Why" featured the self-defeating lyrics fans have come to expect from lead singer Haley Williams and the song had a certain Paramore catchiness, but the funky bass and classic rock guitar explored musical territory the band had not yet shared with their listeners.  A WAR RIGHT BEHIND MY EYES.  "The News," however, was a hard rock socially-conscious track, darker than most of the band's prior songs. The same day that Paramore released the single, they also released a video for the song. The video (see below) features Haley Williams hypnotized by a television, which becomes a catatonic state in the video. As the s...

  Paramore 's 2017 album  After Laughter   not only took the band in a new direction musically, the lyrics of the band's latest album started a conversation about mental health.  Lead singer Haley Williams transcends the emo genre in this mature discussion about the depression that followed her divorce, band mate controversies, and media scrutiny.  The album's opening track and first single, " Hard Times ," sets the tone for the album along with calling on the motif of weather, all the while disguising itself as an upbeat, positive track musically. It's not, though.  YOU HIT ME WITH LIGHTNING.  I just realized the other day that March is Women's History month, so today, I decided to make a playlist titled  Women Rock: A Playlist Celebrating Women in Music Pt. I.  This is a compilation of songs from my blog featuring female artists who have made a difference in the genre that they play. Enjoy!

Next Friday, we'll see the return of Paramore after a five-year hiatus. Following the release of 2017's After Laughter and the promotional tours, the band decided to take an indefinite break. Next week the band will release This Is Why , which seems like a return to form for the band that got their start in pop-punk and emo. In the the six years between After Laughter and This Is Why, pop-punk made a comeback; Paramore's former guitarist Josh Farro and lead singer received writing credits on Olivia Rodrigo ’s mega-hit “ good 4 u ” in 2021 for a controversial interpolation.  I'M OFF CAFFEINE ON DOCTOR'S ORDERS. On   Paramore's 2017 After Laughter  lead singer Haley Williams begins to process her divorce from New Found Glory 's guitarist Chad Gilbert . After touring and promoting After Laughter, Paramore took an indefinite hiatus. Williams started writing music which eventually became 2020's Petals for Armor , an album in which she analyzes her divorc...

  2017's  After Laughter   is arguably the best  Paramore  record both lyrically and musically. Musically, it's a pop album borrowing synths from the '80s, interesting drum arrangement, and some pensive guitars here and there. And although most songs are in major keys, lead singer and lyricist  Haley Williams  masterfully disguises some of the band's darkest lyrics with smiles and summertime vibes.  The name of the album itself is telling. Haley Williams explains that the meaning is the expression the faces of a room full of people stop laughing. Smiles start to fade, maybe some tears are wiped away. While you may debate whether this band fits into their emo punk rock sound, the lyrics are an unadulterated emotional roller coaster. I CAN'T CALL YOU A STRANGER, BUT I CAN'T CALL YOU.   Winter days are the time for last tracks of the album. Cold days indoors with instrumentals make you reflect on life and relationships. As a piano ballad, "...

  I was wrong about twenty one pilots , and the reason I'm willing to admit that is after I spent time with their album released last year, Scaled and Icy , I realized that this duo was much more than who I thought they were.   Mostly gone--but not entirely--are the emo rapping and trap beats that turned me off of the group when they debuted. The lyrics on Scaled and Icy, though, are emotional, and singer Tyler Joseph masterfully weaves clichés, esoteric messages for fans, current lingo, and new turns of phrase all to a funky piano/guitar groove. Scaled and Icy is in the vein of Paramore 's After Laughter , on the surface it's fun and light-hearted, but when you spend a little time with the lyrics, you're bound to discover a surprising depth. THERE'S NOTHING WRONG WITH THIS. I was thinking about albums of the year and how last year I didn't seem to have one. In 2019 I was obsessed with Mike Mains & the Branches ' When We Were in Love . And although I di...

Paramore 's 2017 album After Laughter not only took the band in a new direction musically, the lyrics of the band's latest album started a conversation about mental health.  Lead singer Haley Williams transcends the emo genre in this mature discussion about the depression that followed her divorce, band mate controversies, and media scrutiny.  The album's opening track and first single, " Hard Times ," sets the tone for the album along with calling on the motif of weather, all the while disguising itself as an upbeat, positive track musically. It's not, though.  YOU HIT ME WITH LIGHTNING. I just realized the other day that March is Women's History month, so today, I decided to make a playlist titled  Women Rock: A Playlist Celebrating Women in Music Pt. I. This is a compilation of songs from my blog featuring female artists who have made a difference in the genre that they play. Enjoy! Tracklist: 1. "Hard Times" by Paramore. The...