Hayley Williams has unveiled her third solo album, Ego Death At a Bachelorette Party, on August 28, compiling 17 previously released singles into an 18-track full-length under her new label Post Atlantic. The album marks a bold, independent direction for the Paramore frontwoman, free from her long-standing deal with Atlantic Records. Produced by Daniel James, it explores themes of recovery, relationships, and industry baggage through alt-pop sounds.
Hayley Williams, the vocalist of Paramore, made her solo debut in 2020 with Petals For Armor, produced by Daniel James, amid a challenging label deal with Atlantic Records and the early COVID-19 pandemic. A follow-up, Flowers For Vases / Descansos, arrived soon after, but was overshadowed by Paramore's This Is Why, which earned the band two Grammys, including Best Rock Album, in 2024. Now, with Paramore off the road celebrating the 20th anniversary of their debut All We Know Is Falling, Williams focuses on solo work unhindered.
On August 5, she released 17 singles coordinated with her Good Dye Young hair company, including a limited-edition marigold dye named Ego. Fans initially dubbed the collection Ego, but it has now become the official album Ego Death At a Bachelorette Party, adding the previously unreleased track Parachute. Signed to Atlantic as a solo artist at age 14 in 2003, Williams resisted their pop singer vision to form Paramore. Twenty-two years later, she declares independence with Post Atlantic, venting contract frustrations in songs like Ice In My OJ, where she screams, “I’m in a band! I’m in a band!”
The album blends alt-pop with diverse styles, from distorted guitars in Mirtazapine—tributing antidepressants with lines like “you make me eat, you make me sleep” and “Who am I without you now?”—to the sensual Zissou and a swipe at Morgan Wallen in the title track: “I’m the biggest star at this racist country singer’s bar.” Discovery Channel interpolates Bloodhound Gang’s The Bad Touch, featuring raw lyrics: “Barbaric bliss, teeth gnash when we kiss / No wound to lick, ‘cause the hurt is hidden” and reflections on Atlantic: “Twenty-something years ago, we started playing a little game” and “I can’t heal, you keep ripping me open.”
Blood Bros. serves as a matured sequel to Paramore’s The Only Exception, with poetic lines like “‘till we’re just two fishes flipping on dry land” and “Filled to the brim, pour a little out each day / ‘Till it’s not quite empty, and we swim just above the drain.” Standouts include the ecstatic Whim (“I want to be in love, to believe in us, sans sabotage”) and candid Glum, where Williams ponders aging: “On my way to 37 years, I do not know if I’ll ever know what in the living fuck I’m doing here. Does anyone know if this is normal? I wonder.” Parachute closes with synth-pop earworm: “I thought you were gonna catch me, I never stopped falling for you.”
This unorthodox release—dropping tracks all at once with minimal promotion, accessible digitally but grassroots in feel—highlights Williams' innovative approach amid industry challenges like poor streaming royalties.
