Chronically Online As The World Burns: This Is Why Review

Grammy-winning rock band Paramore, consisting of lead vocalist Hayley Williams, guitarist Taylor York, and percussionist Zac Farro, has boldly metamorphosed once again. Two decades ago, the band was perceived as a naive newcomer in the music industry led by a then-teenage Williams. Artistically, they have come far from their first album, All We Know Is Falling (2005), which took three weeks to create, to their latest record, This Is Why, which has been in the making for five years. While their debut was shallow and lacked much lyrical prowess, This Is Why leans heavily into its themes of self-blame and contains some of the band’s most provoking lyricism.

Paramore’s prolonged break from music could serve as an explanation for the band’s new, mature, and introspective tone. They opt for an indie rock sound, in contrast with the ‘80s synth and pop rock influences of their fifth studio album, After Laughter (2017). This Is Why is anxious, wary, and paranoid in its moments of introspection, but fiery and passionate when critiquing the status quo. At times, the outrage on the record feels overexaggerated, and the album’s brooding nature leaves the listener little room to breathe, making it feel longer than its 36-minute runtime.

The first single and title track, “This Is Why,” is a gripping rock anthem that kick-starts the album. The verses start off lyrically spiteful yet vocally soft and entrancing—almost siren-like—before exploding into a cathartic chorus. The lyrics detail the negative aspects of fame, such as the constant feeling of being watched; Williams expresses the fear that comes with this paranoia, which pressures her to stay inside: “One step beyond your door / It might as well have been a free fall.” This is powerful because it details a seemingly harmless everyday action that becomes burdensome in the shadow of Williams’s fame.

On track five, “Big Man Little Dignity,” a song with heavy social commentary on the patriarchy, Williams criticizes men in power who are able to escape punishments within a systemically misogynistic society. The album’s theme of media addiction, first introduced in the second track, “The News,” is also present here: “I can’t look away, you're like a movie that I love to hate.” The lyricism takes on an additional weight in “Big Man Little Dignity” because it is rooted in Williams’s traumatic childhood experiences with predatory men.

Though the themes of the songs are similar, “Big Man Little Dignity” maintains a tense and well-managed atmosphere, while in “The News,” the band struggles to appropriately balance the song’s rock elements with its heavy-handed social commentary. The lyrics “War, a war, a war on the far side / On the other side of the planet / And I’ve got war, a war, a war right behind my eyes / Right behind them just like a headache” read as tone deaf, which is unfortunate because the production and melody are powerful on their own. The album’s disappointing moments are minimal but take a heavy toll on its overall quality due to the project’s short length.

“C’est Comme Ca,” the fourth track, is the tracklist’s second disappointment. Though it contains clever lyrics like “Lucky for me, I run on spite and sweet revenge / It’s my dependence on the friction that really hinders my progression,” the song’s lyrical genius is ruined by the half-baked structure of the song. The repetitive and energetic chorus comes in too early, wrecking the tension built by preceding verses. This structural flaw comes off as discordant rather than innovative.

The album’s closer, “Thick Skull,” is one of its highlights, concluding the album with distinctly heartbreaking lyrics—“I am attracted to broken people / I pick ‘em up and now my fingers are bleedin’”—that set it apart from the rest of the tracklist. It details Williams’s struggle with trusting and loving people who have proven time and time again that they are not worthy of her faith in them. Though the song fails to tie up all of the album’s loose ends, it is raw with the emotion that defines This Is Why: self-blame.

This Is Why received a mixed bag of critical reviews, but its polarizing reception is fitting given that it is intended to mimic the chaos of the world’s state. Perhaps it is even an accurate characterization of the nation’s current events: hectic, perplexing, and disheartening. This Is Why forces listeners to take a step back and confront the inherent flaws in our society.