BEST NEW INDIE POP: PARAMORE - HARD TIMES

Paramore’s latest release deserves a listen. Their music is the sort of radio fodder you don’t want to admit you love, but will totally sing along to with the windows rolled up in the privacy of a solo commute. Even those who’ve hated what Paramore have released before may be pleasantly surprised with their new song, “Hard Times.”

PARAMORE - HARD TIMES

The lead single off their upcoming album, After Laughter, starts off with a few unexpected instruments, such as marimbas and bongos. Of course, the more obvious options—like drums, guitar, and synths—begin to play soon after. It’s a kind of cross between 70’s and 80’s sounds as Hayley sings all too familiar lyrics: “Hard times, gonna take you down and laugh when you cry / These lives, and I still don't know how I even survive. “ So it seems like she and her fellow band members are easing them into a whole new Paramore. Maybe?

“Hard Times” has the band leaning a bit more pure pop versus their songs of the past, which have more equally straddled the lines of rock and pop. And if they picked this track as the first glimpse into the compilation, then its likely we’re bound to hear more of that similar sort of playful  bouncy vibe.