Hayley Williams Album Reviews

Hayley Williams is best known as the lead vocalist of Paramore. However, she has also released three solo albums, two of which stand proudly along Paramore’s best work.

Hayley Williams Album Reviews

Petals for Armor

2020, 8.5/10
Paramore’s After Laughter is my favourite album of 2017, which effectively makes the solo debut of frontwoman Hayley Williams my most anticipated record of 2020. Williams released the fifteen tracks of Petals for Armor in stages. The first five songs as an EP in February and the second set in March, before the full album was released in early May.

Petals for Armor features Paramore’s other current members – guitarist Taylor York produces, and tourist bassist Joey Howard is also involved. Zac Farro only drums on a couple of tracks, but directed the music video for ‘Dead Horse’. Petals for Armor is understandably similar to Paramore’s recent work, but more introspective and subdued. Williams takes the opportunity afforded by a solo career to write about more adult themes – anger on ‘Simmer’ and lust on ‘Sudden Desire’.

Fifteen tracks is often too much, but the songwriting is consistent enough that it becomes a sprawling album from which listeners can pick different favourites each time. Currently, my favourite is the low-key ‘Why We Ever’ – it starts as a lush pop song before winding down into an emotionally fraught piano and vocal piece.

Upbeat songs like ‘Dead Horse’ and ‘Pure Love’ recall the technicolour synth-pop of After Laughter. The brooding opener ‘Simmer’ immediately stakes out new territory for Williams, while the six minutes of ‘Roses/Lotus/Violet/Iris’ allows her to stretch out the arrangement with strings.

It doesn’t quite reach the greatness of After Laughter, but Petals for Armor delivers fifteen songs that are often very good.

---

Flowers for Vases / Descansos

2021, 7/10
Less than a year after Petals for Armor, Williams is back with her second record. This time it’s a true solo album, with Williams recording the album in her home studio and handling all the instrumentation herself. Williams announced the low-key album with a fascinatingly low-key marketing campaign. She personally mailed fans severed doll limbs, a reference to the song ‘My Limb’. She leaked the first single by hand-delivering it to a fan on CD and instructing them to upload it.

The sound palette of Flowers for Vases / Descansos is minimal – Williams accompanying herself on acoustic guitar, piano, and drums. The bare-bones instrumentation puts the spotlight on Williams’ songwriting, and she largely succeeds. She’s still dissecting her 2017 divorce, and the record is often contemplative and melancholy. The record opens with the terrific line “First thing to go was the sound of his voice”. There’s pretty material like the lovely piano of ‘KYRH (Keep You Right Here)’, and Williams supplies a full-band arrangement for the rock-oriented closer ‘Just A Lover’.

I’m not sure that I’ll return to this bare-bones album often, but Williams is a strong enough writer and vocalist to make it a compelling listen.

---

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

Williams’ music is as memorable and heartfelt as ever.

Best Hayley Williams Songs

• Disappearing Man
• Why We Ever
• True Believer
• Simmer
• Love Me Different
• Roses/Lotus/Violet/Iris.