Most people that know me know that Paramore is my favorite band, and they have been for almost eight years. Today (May 12) Paramore released their fifth studio album, "After Laughter" and it's an absolute masterpiece. Paramore haven't released new music since their 2013 self titled album "Paramore". Since the end of the self-titled era around 2015, Paramore have been through a lot. Long-time bassist Jeremy Davis left the band and filed a lawsuit against Paramore in late 2015, leaving Paramore as a duo, Hayley Williams and Taylor York. Williams and York weren't even sure if Paramore was going to exist for another album, but they decided to keep going and went to the studio last summer and worked with producer Justin Meldal-Johnsen, who also produced "Paramore". In June of last year, former drummer, Zac Farro, was seen tracking drums for Paramore's new album, maybe just as a favor. In February of this year, it was announced that Farro was officially back in the band. Back and better than ever, "After Laughter" discusses friendship, betrayal, depression, and just overall sadness. It's a very fun and groovy album musically, but the lyrics are some of the darkest Williams has ever written, a combination I absolutely love.

The first track on the album, "Hard Times", was released on April 19 as the lead single and was our first taste into Paramore's new sound. It took Paramore in a whole new direction and really showed off Taylor York's talents with guitar and also production. The song is pretty self explanatory, it's about hard times. The band has been through a lot, life sucks sometimes. One of my favorite parts is the three little synth notes right before the chorus after each verse. I also love when Hayley sings "and I gotta get to rock bottom" at the end of the chorus. "Hard Times" was an excellent choice for a lead single and the music video has peaked over 20 million views on YouTube in 3 weeks.

Next is Rose-Colored Boy which is an absolute JAM. I hope this becomes a single because this song could be the song of summer 2017. It starts out with this weird cheerleader type chant "Lowkey, no pressure, just hang with me and my weather," which I can imagine will be incredibly fun to sing at shows. The song is about someone who looks through rose-colored glasses and doesn't see how awful life can actually be. Hayley just wants the rose-colored boy to "just let me cry a little bit longer". It's basically saying that even though someone else is happy, doesn't mean you have to be. We all go through our own struggles at different times, so if someone needs to cry, let them cry. I absolutely love the groovy guitars and synths on this song. I also love Hayley's voice in the chorus. It's so powerful but still works with Paramore's new sound that's not as rock/pop-punk driven.

Next is "Told You So" which was released as the second single last week, also with a music video. Taylor York has these incredible scattered guitar riffs going out through the whole song and Hayley's voice weirdly accompanies it well. Definitely one of my favorite things Taylor did on this album. There's also some marimba in there which just adds to the incredibly long list of things Taylor has contributed to this album. I love the lyrics of the bridge, "throw me into the fire, throw me in, pull me out again." The lyrics get a little repetitive but overall it's extremely catchy and was a great choice as a single to give people another taste of this new Paramore era.

Song number 4 is "Forgiveness" which allows the album to slow down for a little bit. I'm pretty sure this song is about former bassist, Jeremy Davis. The lyrics "you want forgiveness but I just can't do it yet" are so painful and definitely make me think of the Jeremy situation. I love the lyric "forgiving is not forgetting." We always say the phrase "forgive and forget" but just because you forgive someone, that doesn't mean you can forget the pain that person caused you. I also think this song could be about Hayley's husband Chad Gilbert, as they broke up briefly in 2014. The music is very subdued but has a really nice bass line. Producer Justin Meldal-Johnsen played bass on the album, proving Paramore doesn't need Jeremy.

Song number 5 is "Fake Happy." This is very high on my list of favorites. It starts with as a demo-sounding acoustic song and then out of nowhere the synths kick in and it's a whole new song. This song is one of my favorites lyrically. It's about how people pretend to the outside world that everything is fine, even when they're really not. "I bet everybody here is fake happy too." The lyrics are so relatable, everyone has probably been fake happy at some point. I love Hayley's voice in the chorus when she sings "oh please, don't ask me how I've been." Musically, the song is synth-driven in the verses but then the guitars kick in the chorus, and it sounds slightly like an older Paramore song, but still retains this new sound.

Next is "26" which is probably the biggest tear-jerker on the album. It's a soft, delicate acoustic song with some string arrangements. It's so simplistic but it's easily the most painful song on the album. The lyrics definitely touch upon Hayley's doubts and anxieties over the past few years. It's about trying to keep your hopes up but something keeps bringing you down. The chorus goes "hold onto hope if you've got it, don't let it go for nobody, they say that dreaming is free but I wouldn't care what it cost me" and I think it's so beautiful. There's also a line that references the song "Brick By Boring Brick" from their 2009 release "Brand New Eyes". In "Brick By Boring Brick" Hayley sings "keep your feet on the ground" and in "26" she sings "after all, wasn't I the one who said to keep your feet on the ground." Hayley's voice is so soft and vulnerable on this song and I think that's when her best lyrical moments show. "26" is definitely one of my favorites.

Next is "Pool," which is the only love song on the album, but it's hard to tell that it's a love song. It's not one of those love songs where everything is perfect and nothing could go wrong in your relationship. Hayley addresses some of the problems she's dealt with in her 9 year relationship with her husband Chad Gilbert. "No one breaks my heart like you." It's a song about second chances and acknowledges the bad things that have happened in a relationship but wanting to "dive back in" because the relationship is worth keeping. This is one of the more interesting songs musically. It definitely gives the title justice as I can really see a pool somewhere if this were a music video.

Next is "Grudges" which is such a special song for any Paramore fan who knows all the band drama they've been through. It's about Hayley rekindling her friendship with Zac Farro as he rejoined the band and letting go of all the grudges from when he left the band with his brother Josh in 2010. I love this song because Zac helped write it, not knowing the lyrics were actually about him until Hayley told him. It's also so sweet because Zac sings for a little bit in the bridge. As some people know, when Zac wasn't in Paramore he'd been working on his solo project Halfnoise, where he does sing, so they brought the Halfnoise aspect into the song to showcase his other talents besides drumming. This song is such a feel-good song and it makes me so happy that Hayley and Zac are friends again.

Next is "Caught in the Middle." Another JAM. It has this super catchy guitar riff throughout the whole song and the chorus is probably the easiest on the record to sing along to. "I'm just a little bit caught in the middle, I try to keep going but it's not that simple." This song also deals with Hayley's anxieties over the years and self-doubt. Very relatable. I love the lyrics in the bridge, "no I don't need no help, I can sabotage me by myself." It's so depressing, but hey, Paramore has always been great at angst. The pop-punk power chords may be gone but Paramore's lyrics are even more emo than they were in 2007.

Track 10 is "Idle Worship," definitely the most haunting on the album. There's eerie synths while Hayley sings about fame and how she doesn't feel like she should be put on a pedestal just because her lyrics can help people. She's human too and can't always be there to help you out, so you shouldn't depend on her. For not being this perfect role model all the time, Hayley feels like she's letting fans down, "I'm gonna be the one to let you down." It's such an interesting commentary on fame. Solid song.

Next is "No Friend" which is actually the outro to "Idle Worship" with the instrumentals playing an inverted version of the chords from the original song. This song is so cool because Hayley doesn't sing on it at all, but there's still lyrics. The whole song is a spoken word piece performed by Aaron Weiss of the band mewithoutyou. He's not in Paramore but he's "speaking" a song entirely about the band and the issues they've faced over the years. The coolest thing about this song is all the references to old Paramore songs. Below is a graphic someone made on Twitter to all the lyric parallels.

The final track on "After Laughter" is "Tell Me How," a super emotional piano ballad. I'm not entirely sure, but I'm picking up vibes that this song could be about Jeremy again. The opening line "I can't call you a stranger but I can't call you" talks about how Hayley has known Jeremy for years so he's not a stranger but she can't just call him up again like old friends. This theme is also seen in the line "of all the weapons you fight with, your silence is the most violent," meaning Jeremy not saying anything about his sudden departure is probably the worst thing he's done for their friendship. The song starts out with just vocals and piano but slowly some percussion, synths, and guitar make their way in there, making an excellent finale.

Overall, "After Laughter" is an incredible comeback album from an incredible band. This album almost didn't exist but I'm so glad Paramore decided to stick around and make this masterpiece. I'm gonna give this a 9.5/10. Welcome back Paramore.