Hayley Williams Takes An Alternative Approach to Music and Music Releasing to Give Us Her Best Solo Album to Date

Hayley Williams, undoubtedly one of the greatest mainstream vocalists of our generation and undeniable Cool Girl™, released her third solo album after 4 years, and it’s about time. But before delving into the music (the fun stuff), let’s talk business and politics (it’s relevant, I swear).

In May of 2025, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) was pushed to cease direct funding to NPR and PBS under the Ending Taxpayer Subsidization of Biased Media Executive Order, executed by the Trump Administration. Furthermore, in July of 2025, US Congress passed a rescissions package that cut federal funding for public radio by over $1 billion, ultimately forcing the CPB to announce on August 1st its imminent shut down. Naturally, a historically vocal and politically active Williams allowed this Congressional decision to partially dictate her method of release for her upcoming album. With absolutely no context, on July 23rd, Hayley Williams marched into WNXP, a public radio station in Nashville, with a CD that read two presumable song titles, “Mirtazapine” and “Glum”, and a message saying “thanks for keeping me company//long live public radio”. “Mirtazapane” then debuted exclusively on WNXP (“Glum” was not on the CD, simply teased), and that was the first and only taste of a formal single release for Williams’ upcoming project. From a business perspective, it is incredibly impressive for an artist of such commercial success to refuse a formal release schedule, especially in a way that champions public radio, which is inarguably growing obsolete as streaming platforms monopolize the listening industry.

As “Mirtazapane” audio snippets leaked across social media, fans began to anticipate a project from Williams but had no other evidence for support–that is, until an extremely limited edition shade “Ego” was released by Good Dye Young (Hayley Williams’ hair dye brand) on July 28th. Only 2,000 orders of Ego were available, all signed by Williams and her hair dresser Brian O’Connor, and a purchase confirmation email including a cryptic set of numbers at the bottom, styled like binary code. These unique codes gave access to a secret section of Hayley Williams’s website, all littered with tracks as mp3 files. For the next 48 hours, 17 songs sat on Williams’ website and die-hard fans frantically shared their access codes and downloaded all the audio files and snippets they could until the website went blank with a simple message: “Thank you for listening”. On July 30th, Hayley Williams released all 17 songs onto streaming platforms as individual singles, claiming she did so to “disrupt the traditional release format” and to allow the audience to treat every song as an individual, rather than allowing for tracks to get lost in the mix of an entire album (this worked well, streaming numbers on each track are some of the most evenly dispersed I’ve seen of a big artist). On August 28th, Williams finally released her alt-pop/rock album formally, titled Ego Death At A Bachelorette Party, including one extra song at the end.

18 tracks is a lot to cover, so I’ll attempt a logline for each and highlight some faves, “single” “Mirtazapine”, and the surprise 18th song “Parachute”.

“Ice In My OJ”: Rhythmically reminiscent of Hayley’s earlier solo work, an explosive chorus and swanky-cadenced cynical lyrics drawing on in the verses, it’s an energetic start to the album.

“Glum”: A chiller, reflective track with vocal effects similar to “Nikes” by Frank Ocean throughout verses, then synth keys and guitar tones to bring us into full sound on a pleading chorus, harboring sentiments of isolation. Personally, I disliked the vocal effects between the choruses because I find Hayley Williams has a voice so good it should go untampered, but I understand the effect’s creative purpose.

“Kill Me”: Stylistically similar to “Glum”, just without blatant vocal effects, “Kill Me” constantly teases a buildup to a release that never seems to really come. Includes a guitar solo with a warbling bite to it that I would’ve liked to hear further upfront.

“Whim”: Soars on synth and bounces on bass, combining with a twinkling guitar part that altogether creates a whimsical, higher-registered chorus for a lovey electro-pop sound. It’s a hopeful love song with a tinge of desperation on the search for sustainable love.

“Mirtazapine”: The album’s only “single” prior to release, “Mirtazapine” is a cathartic sound that’s closer in style to Paramore as opposed to Hayley’s solo work and the EDAABP album thus far. A heavy, distorted guitar full of fuzz and grit drives the tone of the hammering song, only to be seasoned beautifully with a clear pop-punk belt that Hayley Williams has perfected throughout her career. Alternative to my dislike of the vocal effects on “Glum” verses, I actually really love the distortion and oversaturation effect on the backing vocals/screaming we hear on the bridge and the further descent into chaos towards the end of the song. It’s a choice that keeps her original voice at the forefront while embellishing for style. If you're a fan of earlier Paramore or This is Why (like I am), this song is that sound.

“Disappearing Man”: The best part of this track is the vocal arrangement, from spliced intros to awesome panned harmonies and countless adlibs and layers.

“Love Me Different”: Alt synth pop track similar to After Laughter Paramore sounds.

“Brotherly Hate”: This one’s just fine. Alternates between a very bouncy, staccato rhythm and drawling, distorted whispers/yells, oohs and aahs. I like the short guitar harmonics at the end.

“Negative Self Talk”: Breathy, seductive vocals, and an ambient chorus that doesn’t change much from the mellow verses/bridge. This song is solemnly hypnotic.

“Ego Death At A Bachelor Party”: Starts with a beautifully despondent piano and the sound effect of someone getting in a car and leaving home, followed by a lo-fi drum fill that pushes us gently into a rather chill, trip-hop-esque song. Lyrically, it’s one of my faves.

“Hard”: The ground bass for this song and its accompanying guitar, followed by additional licks here and there is my favorite part of this song, but the synth keys that boast the chorus as Hayley belts the lead and accompanying adlibs give the song a cool feeling of ascension.

“Discovery Channel”: Similar to “Kill Me”, it constantly feels like this song is about to become something big, but it never does.

“True Believer”: Has a harrowing piano part, which is fitting for the lyrical “ghost” motif and a hi-hat/snare pattern I really like and wish was slightly louder in the chorus.

“Zissou”: This song bored me until the bridge, which had a bass line and vocal layering that saved the track and should’ve lasted longer.

“Dream Girl In Shibuya”: As the name entails, the song has a really dream-pop sound to it, from the twinkling piano to the sliding lead vocals on the chorus.

“Blood Bros”: The most underrated track on the album. Pretty acoustic guitar finger picking throughout, the cadence and sound of this song remind me of Emma Harner, a smaller indie singer-songwriter who has an affinity for alternative tunings and intriguing melodies. The way Hayley breathily pleads “whenever you want//whenever you need,” you really get the impression she is in quiet desperation to someone, and I find it to be the most beautiful part of this song.

“I Won’t Quit On You”: This song has that feeling it’ll get bigger, and I’m starting to think this is either a trend with Hayley or it’s an unfair assumption based on the Paramore pretense that Hayley is exclusively a powerhouse belter. This song is fine.

“Parachute”: The surprise 18th song that was not included in any of the release hubbub is easily the best song on the album, starting full force with a hammering on the drums into an immediate stop of percussive motion to a nostalgic piano part that sounds almost coming-of-age-esque, with Williams’ crisp and clear lyrics lingering a subtle sullenness. We come full force into a strong and catchy chorus with tasteful lead guitar licks. Where the heart, and the most compelling part of the entire album, comes in is in the second chorus. She starts with a similar cadence as verse 1, then emotionally deteriorates at the mic until she is crying and begging, through the melody, only to burst into a crystal clear wail of a belt, an emotional performance so powerful it makes the entire song. As she desperately pleads with her love to stay and searches angrily for the reason they gave up on her, listeners innately adopt her hurt and betrayal. It’s spectacularly therapeutic, and I’d argue it’s the best song in her entire solo career.

Collage of all EDAABP single art covers prior to the official album release

Wow... that was long, 18 songs is a lot. Thanks for sticking with me. To those who didn’t stick around I don’t blame you (they won’t see this anyway). Overall, I think this album could have been shorter; I find a lot of the sounds on various songs redundant and thus could have been omitted for concision. I find the cap for truly active listening on an album (unless an album is one of the greats) is 45 minutes, and Williams could have easily shaved down this project. Additionally, I found myself wanting more from Williams vocally, given she has one of the greatest voices and one of the healthiest belts of our generation. Regardless of these two gripes, this is a really solid album with an incredibly interesting release story that solidifies Hayely Williams as incorruptibly true to her art and herself as a brand in the shark-soaked music industry (on an album titled Ego Death, nonetheless). The singer is no stranger to subversion in her musical career, but this whirlwind release method has undoubtedly solidified her as a musical artist of great creative vision and virtue. She is wholeheartedly devoted to the cause of her music and the messages within her art and herself as a brand/artist, all while cultivating and maintaining an incredibly successful career. Regarding that successful career, if you’re an old Paramore fan like me, “Martazapine” and “Parachute” are the songs for you, and if you liked their After Laughter indie synth-pop-rock era, the rest of these songs are more up your alley. 

The music business can be grueling, but it seems that for over 2 decades Hayley Williams has navigated through it authentically, passionately, and auspiciously; because not only was the release of the album awesome, but so is the music.

Official album cover for Ego Death At A Bachelorette Party