Hayley Williams has some sort of instinct for eerie foreshadowing. In 2017, Paramore released the not-so-quietly political After Laughter, majorly written before the election. Now, she’s releasing an album about rage, love, and the spectrum of human emotion during a global pandemic. On Petals for Armor, she proves the timing isn’t so much foresight as it is her own quest for something real, reflection, and hope to cling to.
“People are so in tune with their spirits when they create from a place of necessity and survival,” Hayley tells Teen Vogue. “For me, writing about rage and discomfort about the injustices I’ve witnessed first hand was my means of staying alive; learning from my own pain rather than trying to sleep through it. I think — or at least I hope — that resonates with people because they know that they have the capacity to do the same. We can be present through all of this chaos and we can grow from it.”
“All of this chaos” is a pretty accurate way to describe what 2020 has been like so far. Hayley has been slowly releasing her debut solo album over a turbulent few months. The full-length Petals for Armor, out May 8, arrives three months after the release of the electric “Simmer.” In the short time span between, the world has drastically shifted. It’s all a chance of timing, but the staggered release of Petals for Armor — a project that moves between quiet anger, wrenching devastation, accountability, and hope — seems to magnify the way everything feels right now.
”Some days I can’t get out of bed and I’m in a dark hole in my mind, and other days are like full-on 12-hour epiphanies,” she summarizes her time in self-isolation. She’s been centering herself through daily phone calls with friends. The long-tail of her solo music release has also given her a point of focus. Across 15 tracks released in three big chunks, Hayley departs somewhat from the pop-punk ballads and bops of Paramore to explore something more intimate. She’s been part of a whole; now she’s finding out what standing alone feels like.
“I definitely spread my wings a little more as a musician on this project than I ever have before,” she says. “We learn as we go and we’re open to the discomfort of growth. I certainly felt that discomfort while making Petals for Armor and it brought me to one of my proudest moments as an artist thus far.”
The album spans Hayley’s influences and inclinations with nods to Björk’s unique vocals and Hayley’s love of R&B (and current obsession with artists like Sade, Solange, and SZA). There are the unexpected electronica riffs juxtaposed against harsh melodies and angst-channeled dedications to Thom Yorke. On “Roses/Lotus/Violet/Iris,” Hayley had Phoebe Bridgers, Lucy Dacus, and Julien Baker come in for backup vocals — the three are at the forefront of alternative rock songwriting right now, a movement of women rockers led in part by Hayley herself. Of the collaboration, she says, “What else can I say, except for I must be the luckiest b\*tch in the game?”
The grouping feels like a positive sign; for Hayley, certain aspects of the male-dominated rock music culture have changed for the better, though it comes from the work of women themselves, not necessarily male gatekeepers. “The greatest difference in the culture between then and now is that my female and female-identifying peers give less f*cks than ever, in all the right ways,” Hayley says. “There’s no shame in speaking our minds and being real about our individual experiences. Sure, there may be farther to go, more ways we can progress, but it’s clear to everyone in this industry now that ‘having the balls’ does not simply equal ‘having the power’ anymore.”
Being real about her experiences is how Hayley got here, after all. That honesty with herself is why you won’t see her doing many scheduled live-streams (“The thought of it makes me really anxious.”) or making fun TikTok videos (“I’m old, man. I don’t know what’s going on on TikTok. My stepbrother was TikTok famous for a second, apparently. He’s the dude working the drive-thru at Starbucks listening to the girl sing her order.”) — even though her song “Cinnamon” is frequently used as a sound effect. (Note: If this is the video we’re thinking of, it’s a must watch.) Long Instagram captions are more her speed these days.
On Petals for Armor, she faces feelings head on to create a true story that people can see themselves in. As she explains it, the album attempts to build a character arc based on her own life experiences from the past several years — which included ending a long-term relationship and dealing with depression.
“The hope is that people, through listening, will notice how often we all view our own lives through the narrow lenses of dualism and we don’t allow ourselves to be the multi-faceted beings that we are,” she explains. “We aren’t just winning or losing, sometimes we’re both and everything in between and that [needs] to be acknowledged.”
It’s certainly an apt message for a time where it feels like our moods oscillate between panic and passivity daily. “That’s why the album can start with a word like ‘rage’ and end with songs about ‘pure love’ without either extreme losing its potency.”
Petals for Armor is available now to purchase and stream.
