Hayley Williams’ solo debut Petals For Armor is therapy in sweet motion

There’s a breathtaking dichotomy between the brazen, wailing frontwoman of pop-punk outfit Paramore and the burgeoning solo artist who admits that she was once so unsure of herself that a solo career didn’t totally register as a real possibility. “I’m realizing how little I believed in myself,” Hayley Williams said to USA Today. “Being part of something bigger than yourself is helpful… Doing something by myself is very challenging and empowering, but this is also just a lesson that I’m meant to learn.” Part of that lesson included seeking intensive therapy for her previously undiagnosed depression and PTSD for the first time, a development largely prompted by her divorce from New Found Glory’s Chad Gilbert. During treatment, Williams turned to journaling to help process her heartbreak and latent trauma. Those scribbled pages held what would become some of her most honest music yet, clearing the path for her first solo record.
Petals For Armor is easily her most revealing effort to date—even after a 15-year discography where she never exactly held back. After all, 2017’s After Laughter, like previous Paramore records, tapped into rage and enduring sadness in a way that was accessible to so many—especially women—despite its deceptively fun ’80s-era production. And yet, there’s a stark difference between the guitar-driven, aggressive-but-liberating timbre of that record’s “Rose-Colored Boy” and the percolating, quietly stewing fury that underlines “Simmer,” Petals For Armor’s chilling first single. Both address certain pain, but the latter—like the album it occupies—shows a distinct growth in both her artistry and her relationship with her anger and sadness. At 31 years old, Williams has eased into the realization that her righteous rage doesn’t always require loudly (albeit melodically) surrendering her self control, that her ability to temper her anger comes with its own bit of power (“Control / There’s so many ways to give in / Eyes close / Another way to make it to ten”). For a more straightforward celebration of Williams’ progress, “Watch Me While I Bloom” brings the uptempo promise of a flourishing woman on the path to healing (“I’m alive in spite of me / And I’m on my move / So come and look inside of me / Watch me while I bloom”).