New Music Reviews: Hayley Williams, Wolf Alice, and William Tyler

Paramore’s Hayley Williams and London’s Wolf Alice continue to make high-class pop/rock. Meanwhile, Nashville’s William Tyler creates exploratory guitar instrumentals. All three are well worth your time.

Hayley Williams

Ego Death at a Bachelorette Party

2025, 8.5/10
Williams is best known for her work with Paramore, but she’s also building up a strong career as a solo artist. She initially released 17 tracks from Ego as singles on her website, using an ancient interface. They were later packaged as Ego Death at a Bachelorette Party, along with an 18th track – it’s been suggested that there might be more tracks to come, and that the track order isn’t finalised.

The unusual release strategy makes sense – Ego Death at a Bachelorette Party feels like a compilation, with a diverse range of sounds and consistently high quality. There’s jangle pop on ‘Disappearing Man’, a rapped monologue on ‘Ice in My OJ’, and brooding rock on ‘True Believer’.

While Williams hasn’t commented on her personal life, the lyrics seem to blatantly reference a breakup with Paramore bandmate Taylor York.

And I know that you’re probably telling yourself
That no one’s gonna love me like you did
And I know that you’re probably right about that
But someone’s gonna love me different

Love Me Different

Elsewhere, she’s getting political:

They say that Jesus is the way but then they gave him a white face
So they don’t have to pray to someone they deem lesser than them

True Believer

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNNYei__joU

Williams’ music is as memorable and heartfelt as ever.

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Wolf Alice

The Clearing

2025, 8.5/10
London alternative band Wolf Alice released an impressive rock album last time around. On their fourth album, they step sideways – frontwoman Ellie Rowsell isn’t playing much guitar, and these songs are sophisticated without sacrificing the band’s edge. Rowsell wrote on the piano, and the songs sometimes reflect sophisticated 1970s pop/rock, like Steely Dan and Fleetwood Mac.

I think we were buoyed by the songier songs being things that people really connected to and we spent a lot more time working on those constituency, songy song parts of the songs. It’s the hardest thing in the world to write a really concise song in a – I don’t wanna say pop structure, but you know what I mean. 

Joff Oddie, NME

The album has attracted backlash from longtime fans, who feel betrayed by the shift away from rock. But there’s still muscle, like on ‘Bloom Baby Bloom’ – even though it’s built around piano, it still rocks.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lBGcloF8LIY

But elsewhere, it delves into more esoteric territory – ‘Just Two Girls’ veers close to sophisticated chamber-pop, while ‘White Horses’ is woozy and pastoral.

The Clearing is a successful evolution for Wolf Alice, keeping their identity

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William Tyler

Time Indefinite

2025, 8/10
William Armistead Tyler played guitar with celebrated indie bands Lambchop and the Silver Jews before starting a solo career. Based in Nashville, his work incorporates Americana and ambience. I’ve barely dipped into his catalogue, but Time Indefinite veers into experimental territory. He incorporates found sound, particularly a reel-to-reel he found from his late grandfather in Jackson, Mississippi.

He can take an influence like country music, which is quite distant from what I do, but he has a way of combining that with drone music, minimalism, electronic.

Kieran Hebden, The Guardian

Moments of melodic beauty emerge from the ambient haze. ‘Howling at the Second Moon’ is a beautiful example, with Tyler’s guitar at the forefront.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8GBE100BoL0

Other times the ambient elements are to the fore, like on the foreboding ‘A Dream, A Flood’ and the lengthy ‘The Hardest Land to Harvest’. The counterpoint is ‘Star of Hope’, which interpolates the hymn ‘My Jesus, as Thou Wilt’.

Tyler’s ability to express ideas through instrumental pieces is impressive, and Time Indefinite is sometimes transcendentally beautiful.

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