Hayley Williams Drops “Simmer,” Announces Debut LP ‘Petals For Armor’

Mike Wass | January 22, 2020 4:37 pm
Hayley Williams Preps Solo Project
The Paramore frontwoman is preparing to release solo music in 2020.

Hayley Williams makes her much-anticipated solo debut today (January 22) with “Simmer.” Produced by Taylor York, the track is a quietly unsettling, deceptively catchy rumination on anger. “Rage is a quiet thing,” the Paramore frontwoman sings over warped synths and a throbbing bass line. “You think that you’ve tamed it, but it’s just lying in wait.” She continues to grabble with the issue as the chorus approaches. “Oh, how to draw the line between wrath and mercy? Gotta simmer, simmer, simmer, simmer, simmer down.”

“Simmer” is a very promising introduction to Hayley’s debut LP, Petals For Armor (due May 8). “Some of my proudest moments as a lyricist happened while writing [the album]. And I was able to get my hands a little dirtier than usual when it came to instrumentation. I’m in a band with my favorite musicians so I never really feel the need to step into a role as a player when it comes to Paramore records. This project, however, benefited from a little bit of musical naïveté and rawness and so I experimented quite a bit more.”

Watch Hayley’s striking “Simmer” video below.

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