Paramore urges listeners to quite literally turn off “The News” on the tense, twitchy second single from its upcoming album This Is Why, a message accentuated by a horror film-inspired video directed by Mike Kluge and Matthew DeLisi.
“Every second our collective heart breaks / all together every single heart shakes / shut your eyes but it won’t go away,” frontwoman Hayley Williams sings on the track, which follows the September release of the new album’s title song. This Is Why is out Feb. 10 from Atlantic Records.
“’The News’ is one of those songs that came together pretty quickly and felt exciting from the start,” Williams says. “It feels like a happy medium between classic Paramore angst and bringing in some influences we’ve always had but never exploited. Watching [drummer] Zac [Farro] track drums for this one was one of my favorite memories from the studio. Lyrically, it probably explains itself. The 24-hour news cycle is just impossible to comprehend. And I feel a pang of guilt when I unplug to protect my headspace. The common reaction, or non-reaction, seems to be dissociation. Not one of us is innocent of that and who could blame us?”
2023 is shaping up as quite an action-packed year for Paramore, encompassing headline dates all over the world and a handful of shows opening for Taylor Swift on her Eras stadium tour. Paramore will also play an album release show on Feb. 6 at Nashville’s Grand Ole Opry and appear three days later at the Bud Light Super Bowl Music Fest in Glendale, Ariz.
