Hear the vulnerable ballad that inspired Hayley Williams’ solo project
April has already been quite the month for Hayley Williams. Earlier this week, she revealed she took a break from social media after a slew of ill-intended tweets on mental health were directed towards her.
Now, the Paramore singer is returning her focus back to her debut solo album, Petals For Armor, that is due out May 8. Breaking up the release of her album into three EPs, Williams has debuted yet another vulnerable track from Petals For Armor II.
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Today, Williams has debuted “Why We Ever,” a powerful ballad that was one of the first songs written for her solo project. She shared the new song on social media with the caption “ever tried to sabotage the best thing? Yeah, me either….”WHY WE EVER”, from part II of Petals For Armor is out now.”
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A lyric video has also been released for the new song. Filmed by Williams, the video features personal footage of her driving around in her car with close friend and photographer Lindsey Byrnes.
Last night, she took to Instagram to talk more about the song as well as share a behind-the-scenes video of her writing the new track.
“In Dec 2018, I bought Pro Tools, an interface, and some speakers and decided to learn something new,” she shares on Instagram. “These moments are from my first go at it (we’re talking out time/phase/tune…etc!).”
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She further reveals in her post that “Why We Ever” came to be during a low point in her life and credits the creation of the song as the “beginning of a new season” of her life.
“I was at my lowest point I’d been in some time. My sadness shows,” she shares. “Now I look back and credit this night as being the beginning of a new season of my life, where I hold myself accountable for learning to love better. I’ve let myself down a lot in love. This was the start of recognizing bad patterns and acknowledging that I’m ready to grow out of them.”
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Williams goes on to thank producer Micah Tawlks for helping her to both finish the song and reimagine it for the album.
“Why We Ever” is the ninth song to be released from Petals For Armor. In February, Williams released the first EP from the project which contains the tracks “Simmer,” “Leave It Alone” and more.
Following the COVID-19 pandemic that has greatly impacted the music industry, Williams decided to restructure her release schedule for the second EP. With original plans to drop the EP across one week, Williams has now been releasing a song each week. So far, she has additionally shared the songs from the second EP “Over Yet,” “My Friend” and “Roses/Lotus/Violet/Iris,” a collaboration with boygenius (Julien Baker, Phoebe Bridgers and Lucy Dacus).
Petals For Armor pre-order bundles including digital and physical copies of the album are available for purchase here.
Williams also recently responded to speculation that Paramore will no longer continue to make music. In an interview this week with Colorado radio station RXP 103.9 FM, she revealed that a new Paramore album will be happening in the future. Along with this, Williams also confirmed that the band’s cruise ship “Parahoy!” will be returning for a fourth edition at some point.
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Williams announced her North American solo tour earlier this year, but shared last month that it will likely be rescheduled due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. At this time, no dates have been rescheduled and the full list of cities is available below with tickets here.
Dates:
05/13 – Amsterdam, NL @ Melkweg Max
05/15 – Brighton, UK @ The Beach @ The Great Escape Festival
05/16 – London, UK @ Electric Brixton
05/18 – Paris, FR @ La Cigale
05/19 – Cologne, DE @ Live Music Hall
05/28 – Seattle, WA @ Moore Theatre
05/30 – San Francisco, CA @ The Masonic
06/01 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Wiltern
06/03 – Denver, CO @ Paramount Theatre
06/05 – Dallas, TX @ HiFi
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06/06 – Houston, TX @ House of Blues
06/08 – Orlando, FL @ House of Blues
06/10 – Atlanta, GA @ Tabernacle
06/15 – Charlotte, NC @ The Fillmore Charlotte
06/17 – Silver Spring, MD @ The Fillmore Silver Spring
06/18 – Philadelphia, PA @ The Fillmore Philadelphia
06/20 – Boston, MA @ House of Blues
06/22 – Toronto, ON @ Rebel
06/24 – Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Steel
06/26 – Chicago, IL @ House of Blues
06/27 – Detroit, MI @ The Fillmore Detroit
06/29 – Nashville, TN @ Brooklyn Bowl Nashville
What has been your favorite Petals For Armor song so far? Let us know in the comments below!
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