Paramore frontwoman Hayley Williams has released solo music before, but never quite the way she released her latest album, which doesn’t seem to have an official name but that the internet had dubbed “Ego.” The album is something of a choose-your-own-adventure collection, as Williams released all 17 songs as singles and encouraged her fans to put the tracks in whatever order they prefer.
Beyond the rollout strategy, though, Ego is a bold collection of 90s-inspired songs in its own right. It has some rock-heavy, Paramore-coded tracks like “Mirtazapine,” a love letter to an antidepressant, and “Ice in My OJ,” which interpolates the lyrics from one of Williams’ first recorded songs and seems to direct some anger at the music label system that first signed her at 14 years old. There’s also “True Believer,” a slow simmer of provocative observations about hypocritical religious leaders and racial inequality, as well as “Discovery Channel,” a chill interpolation of “The Bad Touch” by Bloodhound Gang.
Some of the other highlights in the collection include “Hard,” “Disappearing Man,” “Brotherly Hate,” and “Love Me Different.” One thing that is made clear is that Williams is very comfortable experimenting with her lyrics, pulling from all sorts of different influences, and telling her audience how she sees it.
On the whole, “Ego” is a swaggering, playful new chapter from a millennial rock icon unafraid to pull her audience into the sandbox with her. Give it a listen, give it a reorder, and give it up for Hayley Williams.
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