Hayley Williams - "Simmer Interlude" / "Leave It Alone"
By: Nicole Juliette Hetlyn
“Don't nobody tell me that god don't have a sense of humor
'Cause now that I want to live,
well, everybody around me is dying.”
Hayley Williams is releasing new material left and right, and we are here for it! Last week, we received the first single from Petals for Armor, “Simmer, [see our review here]. Hayley’s first single is already taking over our minds - there are 100’s of fan art [ some of our favorites ], tattoos, theory threads, and more. Bottom line is that we cannot stop listening to “Simmer,” and we applaud Hayley for releasing such a personal and incredible song. On Monday, Hayley released an Interlude to “Simmer.” This minute long video looks like a build up scene out of a horror movie. It shows Hayley dragging Hayley through a room. She is then in a cocoon, appearing to go through metamorphosis. It appears as though flowers are about to grow out of her. Could this a visual/concept album? Whatever is about to happen, sign us up! We are excited to see where this journey goes.
“The truth's a killer,
but I can't leave it alone.”
This morning, Hayley released her second song from Petals for Armor, “Leave It Alone.” First off, this video is dauntingly beautiful. Thank you to the Petals’ team (story by Warren Fu, Hayley Williams, & Lindsey Byrnes + creative direction by Lindsey Byrnes) for creating such beautiful imagery. This song dabbles Hayley’s feelings of death, loss, and grieving. The way I see this song is that Hayley is evolving into a new person. She has “killed” this old version of herself and is trying to move into a better self, both mentally and literally in life. As she is going through this change in her life, she is losing people she loves - mostly metaphorically [ old friends, love, etc ] - as well as in a literal sense. The moment you start bettering yourself, everyone around you starts to vanish, or “die.” As the flowers are growing out of her, instead of “dying,” she is facing this truth and grieving. Hayley uses this pain and death to turn to growth and starts questioning life. “Leave It Alone was co-written by Hayley and Joey Howard, and it produced by Taylor York. It is beautiful, and punches you in the stomach in just the right way. We’re excited to see the LIA Interlude and where the next song will take us with Hayley’s story.
Related articles:
Hayley Williams - “Simmer” - Single Review [ HERE ]
Nicole Juliette interviews Hayley Williams and Brian O’Connor of goodDYEyoug [ HERE ]
”You Are Now Surrounded by Flowers” - Samantha Mazza of Rebel Hearts (Podcast) [ HERE ]
Connect with Hayley Williams:
Facebook . Twitter . Instagram . Petals for Armor Website
[ Paramore . goodDYEyoung ]