It’s been six years, yes, but we can now safely say that the iconic band that only supported our awkward, teenage,emo phase is finally back with more music. Very much like their previous new-wave-oriented album After Laughter, these 10 songs are quite a change from previous works in their discography, but also very familiar to. Throughout the entirety of my listen (or should I say listens - I will admit that it has been on repeat for a few days now) I found many elements of a wiser, more post-punk yet still very critical Paramore. The tracks all did follow some sort of theme - lessons learnt from the very normalized yet self-destructive routine we call adulting - but the personality that each song possesses eases excitement’s way into the start of each of them. Though not every song counts as a favorite of mine, This Is Why is definitely an album that can be listened to with zero skips.
The album starts off with its title track. It left me quite shocked when I first listened to it, not sure why though. I guess if the entire album had had a similar sound to it, I wouldn’t have liked it that much. I’m not saying “This Is Why” is bad, but it just caught me off guard.
“Exploitable, performative, informative – and we don’t know the half of it,” their second support single, “The News” definitely has a lot to say about, well, the news, and I’m all for it. It does give the vibes of their older, third album Brand New Eyes, but it fits just as comfortably here.
Things shift from quite a serious tone to a more satirical one with, “Running Out of Time”, the track about the universal struggle of time management. “There was a Fire! (metaphorically) – Be there in five! (hyperbolically).” “C’est Comme Ça”, I’d say, is more the type that’s catchy and fun to sing. It’s not really one of my favorites but it’s not bad.
“Big Man, Little Dignity” is one of the two calmer songs in this album. It’s just as meaningful as the others, however. “I can’t look away, you’re like a movie that I love to hate.”
The second half of This Is Why is where my favorites are at. Starting with “You First”, an eviler side is sung, where the person is conscious of their petty intentions, but they keep giving those thoughts the energy, “and it keeps on coming back”.
“All for your sake – Became the very thing that I hate” always gives me the chills when I listen to “Figure 8”, which is one of the reasons that it’s in my top three. It is preceded by the next song “Liar”, which I was so close to naming as my favorite. “Liar” is the perfect song to have on while it’s raining; tracks like this are why I’m so content with Paramore experimenting a bit more now.
“Crave” has to be one of the weaker songs for me. Don’t get me wrong, it is alright, and I do get the whole “I’m already dreaming of how it begins,” I just feel it’s outshined by the others quite easily.
The last song, Paramore stated in an interview, was actually the first one created. I mean, they really saved the best for last; the lyrics, vocals, instruments,
everything is just perfect for an outro. I feel like it is all the feelings described in the other songs put together in one song. “Thick Skull” gives the sort of feeling that mistakes will be made, and lessons will be made out of them, but instead of learning those lessons, the mistakes are just repeatedly made, as if in a time loop.
For an album with only ten tracks, This Is Why harbors a lot of emotion and many different types of them, too. I can already tell that it is going to leave its mark on my Spotify Wrapped this year the way I keep going back to it the following day. As a long time, Paramore fan, I’m confident in saying that I was not let down, only instead left hoping for a deluxe edition. I’m not sure what those songs would be about, though, because these have just said it all.
By Roj