Isolation and Descansos

By Zyiah Tyler, Staff Reporter

Courtesy of LINDSEY BYRNES

Paramore’s frontwoman Hayley Williams has released another album this year following the release of her LP, “Petals for Armor.” On Friday, Feb. 5, fans were treated to a surprise album titled “Flowers for Vases/Descansos.”

The sound of the album is different from its predecessor. “Petals for Armor” focuses on basslines, drums and a dash of piano. In “Flowers for Vases” (or “FfV”), Williams has a softer sound using mainly acoustic guitar and piano while focusing on much darker themes.

“I'm also really really proud that this album is what I have to show for surviving a year that was tough for everyone,” Williams said. “Real and very personal things kept happening to everyone and really global things happened to the collective.”

In “Asystole,” Williams uses medical terms to talk about the sound of asystole, or a flatline. It’s one of the various songs that carry a dark tone, using macabre metaphors. The song echoes the feeling of a failing relationship that she’s thinking about ending or “pulling the plug.”

On the second track, “My Limb,” she talks about cutting someone off like a limb. She mentions a tourniquet, which is used to stop blood flow, amputation, and even bleeding out. In January, Williams personally delivered the song to a Nashville potographer.

“Did Hayley Williams drive to your house and drop off a candle and a cd with her new song on it or are you having a normal night?” Photographer Carly Butler tweeted.

The album shifts to simply vocals and bass in its instrumental track, “Descansos'.' It features violins, piano, and old audio from a video of Williams at a young age. Here, Williams simply harmonizes with herself. Giving listeners more of the dark sound that is spread throughout the album.

“I'm reminded these days of descansos, memorials set beside a place on the road where someone's life ended suddenly, or at least where it was changed forever,” Dr. Juliet Bruce tweeted.

In “Flowers for Vases/Descansos,” Williams reminisces on her childhood and her friends all the while getting across the feeling of isolation with the intimate guitar melodies, soft piano, and delicate vocal harmonies.

The album feels like a vulnerable and simultaneously safe place to be in on a rainy day. Through her music, Williams is truly able to show her listeners what 2020 was like for her.