Word of the Day
Declenson (n., dee-KLEN-shun)
A deterioration or descent in moral standards. May result in very bad things. Often results in gasps. Sometimes is just a slide.
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Link of the Day
Paramore - After Laughter
Paramore’s latest album just feels off. Its 1980s-poppy sound is bubbly, light, and more cheerful than on any previous Paramore album. The lineup is...sorta back together? The original drummer, who left along with his brother in an acrimonious split that birthed the band’s last album, returns without his brother—but then the bassist is gone, having left in less-public-but-still-present acrimony. All this would make for an album that feels odd, but this ain’t it. It’s the lyrics, which recount depression, slamming up against the pastel and butterscotch of the music.
This isn’t the best album Paramore has ever cut nor the one people will go back to, but it’s stuck with me for its dissonance and because it accepts reality. There’s a mature honesty to this album, dark and pained as it may be, that I find heartwarming. (I am weird, and weirdly comfortable with negative emotions. Caveat emptor.) Williams isn’t looking for a pick-me-up; she’s looking for someone to sit in the darkness with her. Both of those things are needed, but it takes wisdom to know when to use each. It’s clear that Williams suffered by trying to pick up, move on, and fake happy. This is a torch song to that relationship with reality.
After Laughter doesn’t feel honest in the usual tell-all way with emotions bolded, italicized, and underlined. Paramore’s done that quite well before. This feels uncomfortable. Are we supposed to sing along to Hayley Williams belting out “And I gotta get to rock bottom!” on “Hard Times?” Are we supposed to realize that we’re the people in “No Friend” and “Idle Worship” that Williams wants to distance from? Are we the “Rose-Colored Boy?” The answer is yes, just like we read ourselves in Williams’ lyrics.
While Paramore felt like it was recorded in the middle of the struggle, After Laughter feels like it was recorded after the struggle started to break. Instead of resilience and holding fast, there’s fatigue and looking forward.
I think I'm tired of getting over it
Just starting something new again
I'm getting sick of the beginnings
And always coming to your defenses
I guess it's good to get it off my chest
I guess I can't believe I haven't yet
After Laughter gets uncomfortable because Williams is comfortable speaking about the mess things are in—and that’s a huge step. Williams and guitarist Taylor York (largely responsible for the musical direction) said they weren’t even sure the group was going to continue. They did, but with explicit instructions to not try to make things better when they’re not.
Just let me cry a little bit longer
I ain't gon' smile if I don't want to
Hey man, we all can't be like you
I wish we were all rose-colored too
My rose-colored boy
Low-key, no pressure, just hang with me and my weather
After Laughter is an album that no one will love. It’s danceable, but pervaded with darkness. It’s self-aware enough to be intelligent, but it won’t be confused with LCD Soundsystem. It’s got most of the old lineup, but they’re not playing anything like they were before. You’ll probably hate it. But for us, give it a listen, please.
Oh, it's such a long and awful lonely fall
Down from this pedestal that you keep putting me on
What if I fall on my face? What if I make a mistake?
If it's okay a little grace would be appreciated
Remember how we used to like ourselves?
What little light that's left, we need to keep it sacred
I know that you're afraid to let all the dark escape you
But we can let the light illuminate these hopeless places
MusicParamoreAfter LaughterRamblingsIdle worshipCloudy with a chance of showers?