Hayley Williams Drops Unexpected 17-Song Collection After Briefly Posting and Removing Tracks from Website Earlier This Week
By Website Content Manager
The Paramore frontwoman has released two solo albums—Petals for Armor in 2020 and Flowers for Vases in 2021—along with three EPs.
Great news for Hayley Williams fans!
On Friday, Aug. 1, the Paramore frontwoman surprised listeners by releasing a collection of 17 new tracks—just days after briefly uploading and then deleting them from a website earlier in the week.
The project, produced entirely by Daniel James, marks Williams’ first release under her new independent label, Post Atlantic, and is being distributed through Secretly Distribution.
The 17 songs feature contributions from longtime collaborators Brian Robert Jones and Joey Howard, with Williams herself handling much of the writing, recording, and instrumentation. One track, “True Believer,” also includes production work from Jim-E Stack.
Just prior to the surprise release, the 36-year-old singer made an unannounced appearance at the Newport Folk Festival, where she performed “Mirtazapine”—a grunge-leaning track that explores mental health and the use of antidepressants—for the first time live.
Among the standout songs in the collection are “True Believer,” a slow-tempo protest track that critiques the use of Christianity in the American South as a weapon of hate; “Discovery Channel,” which includes a sample from The Bloodhound Gang’s 1999 hit “The Bad Touch”; and “Ice in My OJ,” which features a chorus that Williams originally sang back in 2004 for “Jumping Inside” by Mammoth City Messengers.
On July 28, Williams uploaded the tracks to a mysterious website, allowing fans who had a special access code—distributed via her Good Dye Young hair dye brand—to listen to them. The songs were organized in folders that users could move and interact with. A “Misc” folder included an image of a handwritten lyric book and a T-shirt that read, “Hayley Williams is my favorite band.” Roughly a day later, the site disappeared, leaving behind a message: “Thank you for listening.”
This surprise drop adds to Williams’ growing solo discography, which includes Petals for Armor (2020), Flowers for Vases (2021), and three EPs. As for Paramore, the band’s latest album, This Is Why, was released in 2023.