Angsty lyrics and upbeat melodies make up the odd but perfection paradox that is the foundation of Paramore’s new album Brand New Eyes Paramore’s unique style and dramatic image continues to bring new flair to the music industry with the release of their newest album.
Hailing from Franklin, Tennesse, Paramore’s firey front-woman Hayley Williams continues to amaze me with the wide range of her smokey voice. The vocals displayed in Brand New Eyes are William’s best by a long shot.
While I enjoyed Paramore’s first two albums, All We Know is Falling and Riot!, the greatness of this latest release leaves all their previous work in the dust. In All We Know Is Falling I found the songs all sounded the same, and quickly became bored with their repetitive nature.
The tracks in Brand New Eyes have their own unique flair; and while they are cohesive enough to belong to the same album, I have no difficulty telling them apart.
After observing the vast differences in the sounds of Paramore’s first two albums I was expecting an entirely new sound from this newest release. While the group’s formula was not entirely reinvented, I was pleasantly surprised to find a few softer tracks such as “The Only Exception” and “Misguided Ghosts” mixed in with their usual high-energy songs.
Like in previous albums, the songs in Brand New Eyes tell stories of human error and personal dilemmas. Despite their honest lyrics, Paramore avoids sounding whiney as they make bold statements about the flawed world we live in. “Playing God” paints a picture of the frustration felt towards someone who constantly judges, and points fingers at everything.
While the slower beat and acousitc sounds of “Misguided Ghosts” do not hold a great deal of appeal for me, I was still able to appreciate the brutal honesty of the lyrics: “We all learn to make mistakes/ and run from them, with no direction/ we’ll run from them, with no conviction.” The song describes the human tendancy to gloss over mistakes and run from consequences, rather than accepting and learning from them.
Possibly my favorite song on the album, “Looking Up” illustrates the band’s near breakup experience. “God knows the world doesn’t need another band/ but what a waste it would’ve been!/ I can’t believe we almost hung it up/ we’re just getting started.” Other lyrics describe the band’s passion for music, and celebrate the fact that they were able to pull it together and continue pursuing their dream.
As much as I love this album, I was a bit disapointed in some of the slower songs. The first time I listened to “The Only Exception” I thought it was a beautiful song, and the repetetiveness did not bother me because I really liked the way it sounded. However, after a few more plays I found myself becoming bored with the chorus to the point of skipping the song entirely.
Brand New Eyes contains some of Paramores best work to date. Every track is unique, and while I have my favorites, none of them can be classified as duds.
An altogether great album, Brand New Eyes was definitely worth the three year wait, and has already sparked my excitement for Paramore’s next release.
