Paramore is back with their first new material in four years. The band released their brand new single "Hard Times" today (Apr. 18), the lead single from their upcoming fifth studio album AFTER LAUGHTER, which is set to be released in May, and fans will definitely notice a difference in the sound from Paramore's previous songs.
In "Hard Times," Paramore takes a step back from their punk/pop/alternative style, and step into more of an '80s vibe.
Paramore's Hayley Williams tells iHeartRadio that the new single was inspired after "we went through a bunch of hard times." No doubt, the band has certainly went through a lot of changes over the years. This upcoming album is their first since founding member/bassist Jeremy Davis' departure in 2015. The band said in a statement of his leaving at the time, "To be honest, this has been really painful" also adding "We’re really thankful for the people who have helped see us through hard times before and what we’ve discovered is that those people are just as much a part of this as we will ever be."
Paramore's fifth studio album, AFTER LAUGHTER, is set to be released May 12th and was produced by Justin Meldal-Johnsen (Beck/Nine Inch Nails) and the band's own Taylor York. Earlier this week, the band teased their album artwork on Facebook, posting a partial version of the cover. Now the full cover has finally been revealed along with the album pre-order, and it is very '80s, stylistically, which is reflective of their new single "Hard Times."