Last week, Paramore front woman Hayley Williams drove to a fan’s house in Tennessee with a CD in hand. On that CD was an unreleased solo track from Williams that she told the recipient to release whenever she wanted. This random act of generosity was done in the midst of rumors that Williams was prepping the release of her second solo studio album.
Now, almost exactly one year from the release of her first solo album, Petals for Armor, Hayley Williams has returned with the release of FLOWERS for VASES / descanos.
Taking a much softer, vulnerable approach to this album than she did with Petals for Armor, Hayley Williams fills FLOWERS for VASES / descanos with 14 stunning acoustic tracks. As many of us most likely have done over the past year, Williams delves into the feelings of being alone with her thoughts and memories. While the album is stunning from front to back, the highlights appear with the album’s final three tracks. “Find Me Here” finds Hayley Williams writing about separation from a companion and longing for reunion. The penultimate track, “descanos”, is an intimate piano ballad that leads into the album’s closer, “Just a Lover”, in which Williams shares new ways to find love in worldly things and one’s self.
Now 3 years removed from the last Paramore album, the 2017 release After Laughter, Williams has expanded her discography in new directions from anything she had done with Paramore in the past. With new musical stylings under her belt, there is seemingly unlimited options for Williams going forward, and we will eagerly await whatever is to come next. Listen to FLOWERS for VASES / descanos here and listen to the closing track, “Just a Lover”, below.
