Paramore showcases political angst in new single ‘The News’
While taking the world by storm with their recent comeback, ‘The News’ recalls Paramore’s pop-punk roots through the fear of the world we reside in.
Photo: Zachary Gray
“War, a war, a war / On the far side / On the other side of the planet,” Hayley Williams opens in frustration on the new track.
The development in technology has allowed for unlimited access to all the turmoil and mayhem that is happening not only in our home countries but around the entire world. Every day there is a new tragedy, a new disaster, a new war and Paramore explore this constant exposure and the impossibility of escaping it. People are encouraged to learn about a world outside of their own, but when you try to educate yourself every day about everything, when is it too much?
They criticize the media as, “Exploitative / Performative / Informative / And we don’t know the half of it” for not being transparent with citizens, and criticize themselves, “Far, I’m far, so far from the front line / Quite the opposite, I’m safe inside / But I worry and I give money and I feel useless behind this computer,” for being protected by systems that are concurrently destroying the lives of others.
With edgy vocals from Williams, a catchy guitar and bass line that manages to add tension from Taylor York and Brian Robert Jones respectively, and intricate drums from Zac Farro that represent the blood boiling of people who are frustrated with the state of the world but are incapable of being the catalyst for substantial change, The News is an anthem for those who are trying to survive the tsunami of international catastrophe, struggling to float above the water.
This Is Why is out February 10th via Atlantic Records.