‘Petals for Armor’: My Thoughts on Hayley Williams’ Solo Project

On the 28th of December as she turned 31, Hayley Williams blessed us with the news she would be giving us new music in 2020, and that this time she would be doing it solo.

This was big news, Hayley has only done small collaborations with other artists and has never really given us anything she has called her own, a lot of people became concerned for the future of Paramore as she has always stated she would not want to be a solo artist.

Fans soon became aware of social media accounts under the name of ‘Petals for Armor’ that were linked to Hayley and after many teaser pictures of flowers and videos set in a murky forest, it was announced her first song ‘Simmer’ would be given to us on the 22nd January. Fast Forward to the end of January and ‘Simmer’ has been on repeat on my Spotify since it premiered on YouTube. 

But, before I go on to how I feel about this song, here’s what I think the future of Paramore looks like: Incredibly bright. 

First of all, it doesn’t seem like Hayley wants a full-blown solo career, this is more of a project, a way for her to vent about her personal feelings and deal with the after math of her divorce and the tough time she went through as she was putting together ‘After Laughter’, Paramore’s most recent album.  Even if she did produce more solo material in the future, I highly doubt she will ever abandon Paramore, especially now it seems so stable with Taylor York and Zac Farro, nobody seems to be on the edge of quitting and the three of them share a great friendship.

Hayley onstage with Paramore in 2013 at Radio 1's Big Weekend

Also, Zac works separately from Paramore in his other band, Half Noise, which he has been a part of for a while and this doesn’t seem to affect his involvement and passion for Paramore, so why would a second project of Hayley’s affect hers too? I’ve spoken about it before, and I really do believe it is partly down to sexism and the outdated ideology that female front women believe it’s all about them and eventually always leave to become solo artists and the way in which vocalists are presented as the face of a band. This solo project may not have even happened if she didn’t experience such a tough time, this is therapy for Hayley and a way to share her story, turning what she called her ‘ugly’ thoughts into something beautiful. 

Lastly, people need to be aware that Taylor was involved in this project and helped to write and produce Simmer, and I’m guessing this will be the case for the other upcoming releases too; if that doesn’t ease people’s minds, I don’t know what will! Plus, her name on Twitter is still 'Hayley from Paramore', so she isn't going anywhere.

Photo of Hayley, promoting 'Petals for Armor'

Simmer is powerful and thought-provoking, showing a side to Hayley she doesn’t always let us see; we see her curse, we see her angry and hurt. It’s vulnerable yet daring and shows so much fire and passion. The music video shows just the beginning of the story, with a naked Hayley running through a forest and into a house, everything is dark and red, and we eventually see what seems to be Hayley killing perhaps what is an older version of herself.  Its metaphorical and doesn’t give the full story away, and I can’t wait to hear the next instalment. The lyrics are beautifully crafted and fiery, with vocals sung in mostly head voice, with beautiful cries that portray a lot of emotion. Simmer is the ultimate break up song, minus the clichés and radiates maturity, grace and growth.

‘Petals for Armor’, Hayley’s first solo album will be released on 8th May 2020.