Petals For Armor: Hayley Williams Blooms Into A Star

"Williams views herself as a flower in the midst of a restart to a life that has put the singer on the edge far too often."

---

After the success of the alternative pop-rock band, Paramore, front-woman Hayley Williams has since burgeoned into the world of solo artistry. With her debut record, Petals For Armor, Williams showcases an ulterior side of emotions, thought, and sound within each track. Emotional stability leaks throughout the record and a vulnerable state as Williams senses a vulnerable state that collides with past experiences and prior knowledge.

Released in three waves throughout the spring, Williams pens five songs in each set to detail the hardships she has suffered and the coping mechanisms that have followed.

With a feminine edge, Williams becomes her true self. She discovers her worth and her potential within fifteen tracks. Petals For Armor shows Williams at her best and her worse. The three-part trilogy LP ranges from floral imagery to domestic life. “Cinnamon” recalls the well-known domestic spice and signifies the culture in one’s home. Williams dedicates the track to her home-life and her dog, Alf. The track brings tidings of domesticity and the birthing of feminism at its brightest.

On “Simmer,” Williams enters the scene beneath a looming drum beat as her echoic vocals cause a ruckus within the constant message of simmering down. “Creepin’” delivers a space-enthralled mix as Williams’ vocals tower over the digital processing.

---

With the second wave on the horizon, Williams’ “Over Yet” provides no resistance as she coins the term throughout the first verse. Williams enters into a world of calm chaos as she sings “If there’s resistance/It makes you stronger/It’s not the end” amidst the synth-pop antics. In “Roses/Lotus/Violet/Iris,” Williams creates a shift with haunting vocal delay and budding growth as each verse blooms into a rebirth of the former past of women’s suffering.

Williams’ third part of her feministic, self-thriving LP brings the energetic, uplifting track “Watch Me While I Bloom” which shows the newly-turned solo artist as a flower ready to grow into this magnificent creation of space and time. Williams references how these moments will become the best part of her life. This flower mentality continues into the depths of Williams’ newfound persona as she grows into her own and sparks a fire in her past self. “Sugar On The Rim” tastes bitter yet refreshing as Williams finds her silver lining as she slithers into a chorus of “Never felt this sensation/A kiss to every scar/Eclipse my expectation/Shock to my heart”. With an unexpected yet recharging relationship, Williams feels goodness entering her system as she begins to feel something new.

Petals For Armor re-imagines this fresh start to her life as the fifteen tracks prep for her planting, growing, and rebirth. Williams views herself as a flower in the midst of a restart to a life that has put the singer on the edge far too often.