Paramore frontwoman Hayley Williams has taken fans on an emotional rollercoaster this week. Last Wednesday, the emo pop-punk icon debuted “Mirtazapine,” on public radio station WNXP Nashville. It’s her first single since her 2021 solo album, FLOWERS for VASES/descansos. She then performed the high-energy ode to anti-depressants at Newport Folk Festival with Jack Antonoff’s band, Bleachers. Notably, “Mirtazapine” was not followed up with an announcement from Williams, and was not immediately available to stream, but listeners were just happy to see her making new music after her lengthy hiatus.
On Monday, Williams’ hair care company, Good Dye Young dropped an exclusive new golden shade of hair dye called Ego. Only 2000 limited-edition, signed boxes of dye were available, and fans speculated on Instagram that the release may be a hint at more new music from Williams. GDY’s Instagram post featured “Mirtazapine,” in the background, and as Chicago singer Gianna Reiger exclaimed, “REEEEEE ORANGE MEANS MUSIC, SHE’S BACKKKKKK.” Williams’ bold, vibrant hair colors have trademarked the many eras of her music career over the years. Another GDY post’s caption read, “Meet the shade that unlocks the soundtrack to your summer. Ego is everything you need for a new creative era.” That’s when the real fun began.
On Monday, customers who purchased Ego from Good Dye Young received a 16-digit access code which, when entered on www.hayleywilliams.net, unlocked a nostalgic kick in the face. The webpage featured a Windows 95-styled media player, with a whopping 17 new tracks, including last week’s “Mirtazapine,” and other creative titles like “Ice in My OJ” and “Dream Girl In Shibuya.” Mercifully, the access codes were shareable so that everyone could enjoy the album.
The surprise release sent the internet into a frenzy, with countless, confused fans trying to figure out what was going on, and then desperately hunting for valid access codes. Paramore and Williams fan pages wasted no time posting lyrics, screenshots, and thematic analyses of the album, which is being tentatively called Ego. The haunting track, “True Believer” has gone viral on TikTok, where folks are loving Williams’ scathing criticisms of the Southern Evangelical Church. “They say that Jesus is the way / But then they gave him a white face / So that they don’t have to pray / To someone they deem lesser than them… Strange fruit, hard bargain / Till the soil, Southern Gotham.”
In yet another unbelievable twist, the album disappeared from the internet unexpectedly, just over 24 hours after its release. Listeners who kept the webpage open were met with an error message when playing the songs, and new visitors are now greeted with the following message:
This (un)release has been a masterclass in creative marketing and monumental buzz generation. Ego is the third huge surprise album this month alone, following Justin Bieber’s SWAG and Tyler, The Creator’s DON’T TAP THE GLASS, not to mention Lizzo’s mixtape MY FACE HURTS FROM SMILING, which dropped in June. The emerging trend has brought an electric sense of excitement to the musical zeitgeist, and it will be very interesting to see how it may change the way music is marketed and released in the future.
Williams has made no comment or announcement of the release, beyond pinning Good Dye Young’s post to her Instagram profile, and adding a lyric from “Love Me Different” to her bio (“the pleasure and the agony’s all mine”). This morning (July 31), a Paramore fan account posted a screen recording of all 17 tracks available on Apple Music, stating that they will be available at midnight local time.
Interestingly, they appear to have been released as 17 individual singles rather than one album.
There’s truly no guessing what could come next with this release!
Keep up with Hayley Williams: Instagram // Spotify // Website // Facebook
