Review Summary: A worthy if mildly disappointing addition to Paramore's canon.
If there's one thing I've found fascinating about the critical reaction to just about every Paramore record for the past decade (or more), it's the zeroed in focus on how the band has "matured". It's almost always billed as a stylistic leap, a sonic reinvention, or the band's new frontier in which they finally ditch their pop-punk roots and all of their high school drama, as if that hadn't already been done by 2013's
Paramore. Thus, it came as little surprise when identical sentiments gushed from nearly every single
This Is Why review. The truth is that this album's introspection and sociopolitical commentary shouldn't have shocked anyone who was actually paying attention. Have you
heard 'Future' or 'No Friend'? Paramore hasn't been fucking around lately, and the idea that they're still some group of bratty pop-punkers who are at long last growing into their "adult millennial" shoes is insulting to the quality of their recent output. A case could be made for 2017's
After Laughter being the best thing they've ever released, and even their celebrated early pop-punk discography from 2005's
All We Know Is Falling through 2009's
Brand New Eyes was never actually immature compared to most of their contemporaries. It's a strange aspect of Paramore's career that always seems to be scrutinized, and it makes no sense.
That's why I wouldn’t peg
This Is Why as Paramore’s
maturity statement, because they’ve been adults making music that's relatable for other adults for quite a while now. Is it their most pent-up, frustrated piece yet? I could easily debate that, but I see the merit. Their most political offering? Sure, absolutely – but more than anything,
This Is Why feels like a totally organic evolution from the lush indie-pop melodies and 80s-tinged production of
After Laughter, an album that was gleefully unaware of the hellscape that 2020 would bring with it.
This Is Why successfully captures the uneasiness of living in this decade, from things as massive as war or the COVID-19 pandemic to snowballing daily frustrations. From every corner of the band's sixth full-length outing, you can feel the walls closing in on Hayley Williams & co.; an idea driven home by the LP's fascinating artwork.
At their most laid back, Paramore handle this pressure in stride and with a sense of humor. Observe ‘C'est Comme Ça’, which translates in French to “it is what it is”, where Hayley Williams documents life under lockdown: “In a single year, I've aged one hundred / My social life, a chiropractic appointment.” The chirpy chorus stands in stark contrast to the spoken verses, where Williams’ performance sounds both detached and utterly convincing. They also find room for romance, with the lyrical vulnerability and breathtaking self-harmonization of ‘Liar’ and 'Crave'. Most of the time though,
This Is Why can’t take its eyes off of society’s in-progress decay, which is best illustrated by ‘The News’ and its chronicling of addiction to twenty-four hour media ("every second, our collective heart breaks...shut your eyes, but it won't go away") and the associated guilt of observing tragedy from afar ("but I worry and I give money and I feel useless behind this computer"). Paired with the title track’s harrowing depiction of modern discourse: “You're either with us or you can keep it to yourself”,
This Is Why immediately paints a bleak but familiar picture. Paramore has always had a knack for harnessing the negative energy of all their external stressors and allowing it to explode through Hayley’s mic, and here they just happen to be absorbing from an environment that is a lot more toxic and dire.
This Is Why's primary flaw is that it feels thematically disjointed. As a listener, it's tough to reconcile moving on from a song about the war in Ukraine to the narrator’s penchant for perpetual tardiness, but that's literally what happens here. This sort of tonal inconsistency can and
should prove irksome to those who fell hook, line, and sinker for the pre-release singles and their real-world focus. The good news is that in spite of the album's scattered thoughts and at times nondescript lyrics, the songwriting itself is nearly just as solid as it was on
After Laughter. ‘Running Out Of Time’ is enough of an earworm to bring you back for repeated listens, even earning a nugget of emotional endearment when you realize that it's less a song about procrastination and more about what it's like to be so overwhelmed that you can't deliver on the positive changes you so desperately want to make: “intentions only get you so far, a harsh reality to discover.” 'You First', Figure 8', and 'Crave' are melodic diamonds absolutely brimming with hooks, and the closer 'Thick Skull' has a winding, groovy build-up to a well-placed guitar solo. Again, a lot of these songs would mean a bit more if they weren't too vague for their own good – lines like "I lost my way spinnin' in an endless figure eight" fall entirely flat when pitted up against
This Is Why's most biting and sardonic moments. They're still fun to bop your head along to, but that's about where the enjoyment ends.
No matter how accurately certain songs here capture the anxiety of living in 2023,
This Is Why will always feel like at least a partial missed opportunity. When Paramore hit the nail on the head ('The News'), they're unstoppable – but there's this unavoidable sense that they simply ran out of gas in the lyrical department. Even the instrumentally fantastic closer, 'Thick Skull' – which is allegedly a middle finger to Williams' worst critics – rarely elevates itself to any sort of palpable anger or valuable realization. There's talk of fingers bleeding, being caught red-handed, and being hit over the head repeatedly, but it's not poetic or moving enough to ignite any real emotional response from the listener. Why should we care? That dichotomy between the visceral and the lackadaisical defines
This Is Why instead of its value as a snapshot of this decade's global chaos, and in that sense, this LP is neither their best nor their "most mature." Regardless, there's nothing to stop you from reveling in this album's own chaotic dynamics, seriousness and passiveness juxtaposed. It's a worthy if mildly disappointing addition to Paramore's canon.
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