This Is Why
This Is Why runs on nervous energy. Paramore use clipped guitars, active bass lines and tightly controlled drums to make ordinary discomfort feel physical. Hayley Williams can still fill a chorus with her voice, but the arrangements often ask her to move through smaller, sharper spaces first.
The title track makes that approach immediately useful. Its rhythm is loose enough to invite movement and tense enough to make the invitation slightly uncomfortable. Williams holds back in the verse before giving the central complaint a much larger voice. The song makes retreating from the world sound both understandable and faintly absurd.
Running Out of Time finds a more specific subject in habitual lateness and good intentions that never quite become action. The lively rhythm suits the self-criticism, and the humour keeps the song from becoming a lecture. The News is less successful. The force of the performance is clear, but the broad description of information overload does not reveal as much as the music promises.
C'est Comme Ça also depends on how much its flat, spoken delivery appeals. The tight playing is enjoyable, though the vocal manner can feel like an imposed character. Williams is more persuasive when the song allows her fuller range to shape its argument.
That makes the second half particularly strong. You First has a hard, purposeful drive, and Figure 8 builds its frustration through an arrangement with a clear sense of direction. Liar offers a softer change, using the voice and chiming guitars to create intimacy without making the song feel slight.
Thick Skull is the most satisfying ending. Williams begins in a lower, patient register and gradually lets more force enter the performance. The growth in the arrangement gives its self-examination a convincing shape. Across the album, the band's curiosity produces a few awkward fits and several excellent songs. This Is Why is worth that unevenness because the strongest passages make a familiar voice sound newly alert to what the instruments can say around it.
