Paramore is finally releasing new music after a five-year break, and just as their upcoming sixth studio album This Is Why‘s title suggests, they’re now ready to explain their decision. That’s why, among other things, band members Hayley Williams, Taylor York and Zac Farro opened up about the real reasons behind their hiatus in a revealing interview with The Guardian published Thursday, Sept. 29.
According to the band, the hiatus — taken after the release of their 2017 record After Laughter — was set into motion by the death of one of York’s family friends, which happened while Paramore was filming a music video. “I just started bawling,” the guitarist shared. “I didn’t know I had this capacity until that moment. We realized nothing is worth risking our health.”
Afterward, Paramore scaled back their touring plans for After Laughter before deciding to take their first-ever break. “Let’s see what it’s like to not hang our identities on Paramore all the time,” said Williams of their thought process.
While on hiatus, the trio — a condensed version of a band that’s had a total of eight members at different times since 2004 — was able to explore solo endeavors and unpack certain mental roadblocks, such as how being in one of the world’s most successful pop-punk bands since they were young teenagers has affected their personal growth as adults.
“You realize it was at the expense of other parts of yourself,” said York, who quit drinking during the band’s time off. “I wanted to explore some deeper parts of myself and figure out why we do this, how it happened.”
“I’m a very introverted person and I have a passion and career that’s at odds with that,” he continued. “When it came back to doing [Paramore] again, I was able to say confidently, ‘Let’s do it.’ Zac and Hayley both needed to know that I wanted to do this.”
The group spent their time away in their hometown of Nashville, where they were able to get in touch with their community in a new way as it endured the COVID-19 pandemic, and faced conversations on racial injustice brought on by the Black Lives Matter movement. “It felt really important for us to be home while so much crazy s–t was happening,” Williams said.
Flash forward to Wednesday (Sept. 28), and Paramore’s new single “This Is Why” was officially out, along with the announcement of their new album This Is Why, which arrives on Feb. 10. Having embraced several changes — one of which being that Williams and York are now dating, as confirmed by The Guardian — the band just feels lucky to be where they are.
“People are gonna get so sick of us saying this in this album cycle,” Williams said, “but we just can’t believe we’re here.”
Listen to new single “This Is Why” below:
