This Is Why

Paramore

I've tried on many occasions to get into this new Paramore record, but unfortunately, I see too many issues getting in the way of my enjoyment. I'll admit that songs like You First or the title track do have strong, catchy choruses, but I find everything else in those tracks to be quite drab and boring. There's also some parts that feel really off to me: the hook on C'est Comme Ça I find to be kind of annoying, and the main guitar riff on Big Man, Little Dignity really doesn't mesh with the beautiful woodwinds that are incorporated into the track. This album appears to tackle a lot of relevant social issues pertaining to our stunted social lives coming out of the pandemic or general world issues (This Is Why, The News, and C'est Comme Ça for example), but I wish the topics were approached with a little more focus. The commentary is a little too shallow to make any sort of meaningful statement or impression.

While I did find a lot of this material to just be passable, there were three songs in particular that I really enjoyed. I really like the urgency of The News. The angular guitars, the up-tempo busy drums, and the fire in Hayley Williams' voice will certainly make fans of Paramore's earlier works very happy I bet. The only thing keeping this song from being an absolute bop is the production which I felt was a little thin. I also really liked Figure 8 for it's strong syncopated grooves and how it switches into a more straightforward, driving chorus. I also really like the tense and eccentric shouts of "I don't know how to stop" that mirrors Taylor York's warped and bending guitar. The album's best track without a doubt is Running Out of Time. This song has a peculiar, chorused bassline backed by a strong four-on-the-floor drum beat. The chorus is incredibly catchy thanks to York's crisp guitar work, and I love the way it is ushered in with Williams' exasperated shriek.

One last compliment I could give is that the band does work in a variety of sounds. There's remnants of the more urgent and rockin' Paramore, but there's also some flowery and eccentric new wave, and some danceable post-punk. In the end, I just wished that the slower and quieter moments were a little more compelling, and I also wish the band went back to the drawing board on some of the vocal and guitar hooks. Even though I wasn't super into this thing, it appears that it is connecting really well with critics and audiences alike. I get that I'm the outlier here, so if any of this stuff sounds appealing to you, you should probably still check it out.