Paramore Announces First Album in 5 Years, ‘This Is Why’

In one of the most anticipated musical comebacks of the year, Paramore has returned with its first new music in half a decade, sharing the news of its forthcoming sixth LP This Is Why and sharing the project’s titular track.

The Nashville-based trio — consisting of Hayley Williams, Zac Farro and Taylor York — has been on hiatus for the past few years following 2017’s After Laughter. The new single was inspired by the group’s reentry into the music landscape, particularly in the aftermath of a global pandemic.

Williams dove into the creative process behind “This Is Why” in a statement:

“”This Is Why” was the very last song we wrote for the album. To be honest, I was so tired of writing lyrics but Taylor convinced Zac and I both that we should work on this last idea. What came out of it was the title track for the whole album. It summarizes the plethora of ridiculous emotions, the rollercoaster of being alive in 2022, having survived even just the last 3 or 4 years. You’d think after a global pandemic of f**king biblical proportions and the impending doom of a dying planet, that humans would have found it deep within themselves to be kinder or more empathetic or something.”

The long-awaited eponymous LP, meanwhile, is slated for release via Atlantic Records on February 10, 2023.

“This Is Why” received a Malibu-set music video on Wednesday directed by Turnstile’s Brendan Yates.

“It was so rad working with Brendan,” Williams described. “I’ve known the Turnstile guys for a little while and was so psyched to have our worlds collide in this way. There’s a cool kinship between the way our bands do things… Hopefully we will get to play shows with them at some point.”

Stream Paramore’s “This Is Why” everywhere now.

In other music news, police have identified and arrested two suspects in the fatal shooting of PnB Rock.