It’s been 20 years since Paramore released their debut album All We Know Is Falling but instead of celebrating, fans have gone into meltdown.
The 00s emo icons released a deluxe version of their album with four new tracks to mark the occasion before chaos hit the fandom.
Speculation that the band is splitting up exploded after frontwoman Hayley Williams, 36, dropped 17 new solo songs without any warning.
Days after the Paramore release, the tracks appeared on the Simmer singer’s website, which could only be accessed via a code sent by her hair dye company.
As fans eagerly sank their teeth into Hayley’s new music, fears that she had split with bandmate Taylor York, 35, began to grow.
Tracks like ‘Disappearing Man’ and ‘Love Me Different’ appeared to hint at a breakup, and, of course, fans jumped to the worst conclusion.
‘Listening to new Hayley Williams album that’s clearly about a breakup with Taylor York,’ wrote @goodlarkcharm on X.
Ellimac_ added: ‘Hayley Williams just released 17 songs about breaking up Taylor York. Hopefully unrelated, she also is selling a shirt that says “HW is my favorite band”. Please say sike. I cannot handle another Paramore breakup rn.’
‘So we’ve got Paramore disbandment allegations, Taylor and Hayley have broken up allegations…WELCOME TO HAYLEY WILLIAMS’ THIRD SOLO ALBUM i guess…’ said decodethemonstr.
Chall3ngers shared a gif of Family Guy’s Peter Griffin driving off a cliff with the caption: ‘Streets are saying Hayley Williams and Taylor York brokeup.’
Neither Hayley nor the notoriously private Taylor, who have been together for almost a decade, has said anything about their relationship to prompt this panic.
The Misery Business singer was previously married to Chad Gilbert, before their split in 2017, so some are pointing to this relationship as inspiration.
However, on one track, Hayley sings: ‘Friends to lovers choking true/ You said it, I deserve someone who knows what I am worth/ Now I wonder what am I worth to you?’
Since Hayley and Taylor were friends for years before making it official, fans have taken this lyric to be about their relationship.
Elsewhere, she sings: ‘The long walk between the car and the house/I just sit behind the wheel ’til the battery runs out/ Home is where we rule out, used to sing down the hall/ to your signature sound.
‘Now it’s just so quiet, I hate this gorgeous house/ Can’t hear my heart beat over emptiness now’.
While fans point to her relationship with Taylor here, the track itself is titled ‘Negative Self Talk’, which fits with other songs that explore her own mental health — with one explicitly named after an antidepressant, mirtazapine.
Not everyone was spiralling online, with plenty of long-term fans poking fun at the instant doomsday response.
TaekyoghouI joked: ‘Hayley Williams, you have to stop. You smoke too tough. Your swag too different. Your lyrics are so great that everyone starts believing Paramore broke up.’
Afterlauqhter added: ‘Seeing longtime Paramore fans immediately jumping to doomerism when we’ve had these songs for precisely one hour and have likely only listened to each one Once and don’t even know the context for the timeline any of them what is up with you guys? Just enjoy the music for now.’
This is not the first time Hayley has released solo music, having dropped two EPs then full albums Petals for Armor and Flowers for Vases / Descansos in 2020 and 2021, respectively.
She’s also featured as a solo artist on collaborations like Taylor Swift’s Castles Crumbling, a vault track from Speak Now, as well as 2010’s iconic Airplanes with B.o.B.
Earlier this year, she released I Like It I Like It with Moses Sumney, which came with an official video of the pair posing together for a photoshoot as they sang the track.
Paramore’s future has been a big question in fans’ minds ever since their 20-year contract with Atlantic Records expired following the release of sixth studio album, This Is Why.
Their social media was wiped clean to mark this new era and a fresh slate, again prompting disbandment rumours.
After this, the band went on tour with Taylor Swift — a lifelong friend of Hayley’s — with loved-up songs from the Paramore frontwoman and guitarist.
It’s hardly surprising, with a packed tour schedule, label changes, and Hayley (and bandmate Zac Farro) working on solo projects, that the band is yet to announce new music.
Metro has reached out to Paramore’s reps for comment
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