NewYearsDayProject | a song a day blog

  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, " Tell Me How "

  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

First appearing in 2001,   Lovedrug   released their   eponymous EP   in 2002 and their   Rocknroll   EP in 2004 before releasing their debut record,   Pretend You're Alive ,  in June of 2004. Selling over 20,000 records soon after the record was released, the band was signed to   Columbia Records   and their song " Spiders " was intended to be marketed as a radio hit. But rock star grandeur was never really in Lovedrug's reach, as the label dropped the band in the middle of restructuring. Lovedrug was a hard-working band, touring with acts such as   The Killers ,   Robert Plant ,   Sam Phillips ,   Switchfoot , and   Copeland . They would enjoy some success with their follow up record,   Everything Starts Where It Ends ,  but would continue making music until 2020, although they are probably best remembered for their first two records.   SEARCHING ON A WIRE FOR A WIRE .  The Militia Group  was a record label founded by former  Tooth & Nail Records  employee  Chad

When a successful band records a new record and the announces the departure of their lead singer— the face of their band, it can be industry suicide. That’s exactly what happened when Flyleaf ’s frontwoman Lacey Sturm quit the band soon after releasing their third album, 2012's New Horizons . After the car accident and death of the band’s sound engineer Rich Caldwell and after reevaluating her life, Sturm decided to quit the band to focus on her family. Before leaving, though, she and the other band members selected Kristen May , formerly of the band Vedera , to replace Sturm. PULLING ME FROM THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WORLD. Momentum for the third Flyleaf record withered with the departure of the signature sound of their front woman. Dropping out of Flyleaf meant dropping out of all album promotion, save for the singer’s farewell videos, “ New Horizons ” and  “ Call You Out .” Kristen May stepped into touring duties immediately following Sturm’s departure. The next year, Flyleaf rele

Fleetwood Mac might be the most turbulent rock bands in terms of member changes, feuds, and internal relationships going awry because of infidelity. The conflict, lawyers, and affidavits surrounding Paramore , though, feels akin to the ‘70s rock band. In his series Deep Discog Dives , YouTuber Nick Canovas summarized the controversies surrounding Paramore . Perhaps the biggest rift in the band is between former lead guitarist Josh Farro and lead singer Haley Williams . After the band’s third record, Brand New Eyes , Farro publicly expressed his opposition to the lyrical direction Williams was taking the band. I DON’T EVEN KNOW MYSELF AT ALL. Like many bands in the pop punk scene in the ‘00s, Paramore began their career with ties to the Christian Rock scene. Most of the band mates grew up Christian, and it seemed natural to integrate their beliefs into the band’s lyrics. But by the band’s breakthrough record, their sophomore Riot! , the lyrics shifted away from Christian themes. The b

" Free Fallin' " is certainly bigger than any artist who has sung the three-chorded song. Today, we'll look at a few versions of the song, but due to the Christian Rock theme of the last few days, ultimately I chose The Almost 's version to be the official version for my blog. As pointed out in an excellent video by 12Tone (see below), there is a lot of meaning packed in the musical theory of the song, ultimately illustrating that there are pros and cons to being free.  ALL THE VAMPIRES  WALKIN' DOWN THE VALLEY MOVE WEST DOWN VENTURA BOULEVARD.  Tom Petty released his first solo record Full Moon Fever in 1989. The first song recorded for the record and first track on the record is "Free Fallin'." The song is one of Petty's biggest and most recognizable tracks. It was also his last top 10 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 . The simple ballad is partly a breakup song and partly a love song for his then home of Los Angelos. The Gainesville, Flori

Composed by  Kenzie , the professional name for  SM Entertainment 's songwriter Kim Yeon-jeong, the debut single " Into the New World " by what would become one of the biggest K-pop groups, Girls' Generation , set the tone for a ten-year career of fun, bubble-gummy, uplifting songs. Composed of nine young women all born between 1989 and 1991,  Girls' Generation   has been been called "the Nation's Girl Group," in South Korea due to their popularity between 2007-2017. Beginning with a sample of   Don Henley 's 1984 classic " The Boys of Summer, " (covered last August by   The Ataris ), "Into the New World" builds on the nostalgic piano and synth sample. Rather than calling back with longing for the past, this song propels listeners forward into the future. I LEAVE BEHIND THIS WORLD'S UNENDING SADNESS.  I've been pretty critical of K-pop in the past for being a-political. I used to think that music in America was too pol

While the rock music was falling out of favor in the 2010s, All Time Low 's career continued to gain momentum. Formed in 2003 and heavily influenced by NoFx and Blink -182 the band became a force in the emo phase of the Warped Tour scene. The band became famous for their jocular onstage banter and their mock-turned serious feud with Metro Station . And in that jocular nature, the skinny, nerdy bandmates clad in only their tighty-whities appeared on MySpace's home page the week before their sophomore album So Wrong, It's Right  dropped in 2007. I DON'T MIND IF YOU FUCK UP (RUIN) MY LIFE. Fast forward thirteen years. I deleted a lot of music I acquired in college if I didn't like the songs. I enjoyed laughing at Blink- 182 videos in middle and high school just as much as any lower-middle class American white boy, but joke pop-punk got old when emo bands dug into deeper subjects. It turns out that All Time Low was digging a bit deeper in the 2010s, flying under my

Today we have another piano-based slow opening track. However, unlike Acceptance ’s Phantoms , promotion for Paper Route ’s debut record Absence was mostly word of mouth from the band’s existing fan base and getting on major tours with Paramore , Mutemath , and others, despite the band being on a division of a major label. The band’s established fan base, curated through touring and social media, had already been introduced to the band’s evolving sound on the Are We All Forgotten EP released on 2008 from the folk-electronic sound of their early efforts. Absence though was full electronic progressive pop. HE STOLE AS BEST HE COULD. The disorienting intro to the song " Enemy Among Us " is a reverberated piano. In the living-room-filmed album promotional performance video (see below) shows a drum set a top the electric piano as Chad Howat plays the song. I have no idea how the band recorded the song, but Absence is an album that I would like to know more technical specifics