Paramore's Hayley Williams shares "Simmer," announces debut solo album
As mentioned, Paramore singer Hayley Williams has an anticipated solo project coming this year, and the first taste has just arrived in the form of the new single “Simmer.” The song was co-written with and produced by Hayley’s Paramore bandmate Taylor York, who became Hayley’s main songwriting partner in Paramore throughout their last two albums (and also features co-writing from touring Paramore member Joey Howard), and if you liked the direction Paramore started going in on those records, you’re probably gonna like this too. It finds her pushing the pop envelope in similar ways to After Laughter, but this time instead of sharp new wave, she’s exploring dark, atmospheric art pop. It’s really cool stuff.
“Simmer” first premiered on Annie Mac’s BBC Radio 1 show, alongside an interview with Hayley, and it now also comes with a horror-inspired video (that was directed by Paramore/The 1975 collaborator Warren Fu and written by Warren, Hayley, and Lindsey Byrnes with creative direction by Lindsey Byrnes). Watch/listen below.
Hayley confirmed in the interview with Annie Mac that Petals for Armor is the album title, and that the album is due May 8 via Atlantic. (It’s also the name of her new website petalsforarmor.com and Hayley said that it’s from a lyric in “Simmer.”) She also confirmed that she’ll be touring in support of the project (with Joey Howard in her band), so stay tuned for more on that. This is Hayley’s first time seriously pursuing a solo career, though she did also contribute the solo song “Teenagers” to the Jennifer’s Body soundtrack in 2009.
