Everything We Know About Hayley Williams’ New Solo Project
Hayley Williams is kicking off the new decade with a new era of solo music. On Monday (Jan. 6), the Paramore frontwoman officially kicked off the rollout for her pending project sans her longtime band.
From the project's name and release date to its eerie visuals, here's everything we know about Williams' new solo music.
She first teased the music on her birthday
In a sweet message to fans on her 31st birthday on Dec. 27, Williams opened up for the first time about the new music she'd been working on. "I'm putting out some music next year. With the help of some of my closest friends, I made something I'm going to call my own. It's a really special project and you'll get a taste of it in January," she wrote in a crossed-out screenshot from her Notes app before wishing fans a happy New Year.
— hayley from Paramore — (@yelyahwilliams) December 28, 2019
The project is called Petals For Armor
On Monday night (Jan. 6), Williams launched a mysterious new website, revealing the project is called Petals For Armor. She also shared a cryptic, three-second teaser on the official Petals For Armor Instagram account, which, since late October, had been filled with close-up shots of various colored flowers with virtually no explanation.
The short clip doesn't include music, but it does feature the rock star breathing sharply as an eerie moon races across the sky obstructed by trees before revealing a release date of Jan. 22, 2020. While it remains unclear whether fans will get a taste of the project in the form of a single or the whole EP, it's safe to say something is coming down the pipeline in just a few weeks.
Petals For Armor posters have already been cropping up around the country
On the same day Williams rolled out the Petals For Armor moniker, posters for the project started popping up in major cities. One fan shared a glimpse of the poster after spotting one in New York City. "SO IM IN NYC WALKING AROUND AND I COME ACROSS THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" the Paramore fan wrote alongside a snap of the visual, which features Williams in a dark yellow dress and "Petals For Armor" emblazoned across the top.
SO IM IN NYC WALKING AROUND AND I COME ACROSS THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!! @yelyahwilliams #petalsforarmor pic.twitter.com/noYJ4RYX8U
— ——– ♡ (@swiftgillies) January 6, 2020
It will be a departure from her work with Paramore
The new music will serve as Williams' first new release since Paramore's 2017 album After Laughter. Since then, the frontwoman has vowed to stop playing the band's seminal hit "Misery Business" live, saying at a 2018 show in Nashville that she and the band "feel like it's time to move away from it for a little while" on account of the hit single's "Once a wh–e, you're nothing more/ I'm sorry, that'll never change" lyric.