Album Details
- Album Title: Petals For Armor
- Release Date: May 8, 2020
- Recording Dates: Early 2019 - February 11, 2020
- Writing Dates: Late 2018 - Early 2020
- Lead Single: "Simmer," released 1/22/2020
- Second Single: "Leave It Alone," released 1/30/2020
- Third Single: "Cinnamon," released 2/6/2020
- Fourth Single: "Creepin,'" promoted 2/26/2020
- Fifth Single: "Sudden Desire," promoted 3/11/2020
- Sixth Single: "Roses/Lotus/Violet/Iris," released 3/19/2020
- Seventh Single: "Over Yet," released 4/2/2020
- Eighth Single: "My Friend," released 4/9/2020
- Ninth Single: "Why We Ever," released 4/16/2020
- Tenth Single: "Dead Horse," released 4/21/2020
- Other Known Songs:
- "Pure Love"
- "Taken"
- "Sugar On The Rim"
- "Watch Me While I Bloom"
- "Crystal Clear"
- Expected Sound: Dark, minimalist, indie, alternative
- Expected Themes: Personal struggles, depression, divorce, death
- Collaborators: Taylor York, Joey Howard, Steph Marziano, Micah Tawlks, Daniel James
On Hayley Williams' birthday at the end of 2019, Hayley unexpectedly revealed she was preparing to release a solo album. Her band, Paramore, was indeed on a break, but up until then Hayley had been focused on her hair dye company, Good Dye Young. Her announcement was shocking, leading fans to speculate on all the different directions her solo music could go in. Would it be a full-on pop album? Would it sound like her traditional pop punk? Maybe something more singer-songwriter or folksy?
We got our answer on January 22, 2020 when Hayley released "Simmer" as the first single. It was a minimalist, indie song that was far darker than we'd anticipated, but also so much better than we could have imagined. It came with a music video like a horror movie, the first part in a series of videos. Soon after we got the "Simmer Interlude" video, then the second single, "Leave It Alone," on January 30th. Following the "Leave It Alone" interlude, the last part of the video series featured the song "Cinnamon," released on February 6th. That same day, we also got the Petals For Armor I EP, which included five songs. In addition to the three singles, we also got "Creepin'" and "Sudden Desire."
On March 19th, Hayley released a new song, "Roses/Lotus/Violet/Iris." It would later appear on the second EP, Petals For Armor II. Hayley revealed that she would release each of the EP's songs one by one. On April 2nd, Hayley released an uptempo new song, "Over Yet," also from he second EP and full-length album. One week later, she shared "My Friend" on April 9th, then on April 16th, we got to hear "Why We Ever." Finally, on April 21st, Hayley released "Dead Horse" along with the full Petals For Armor II EP.
In the final days leading up to the album release, Hayley shared short teasers of the five remaining songs: "Pure Love," "Taken," "Sugar On The Rim," "Watch Me While I Bloom," and "Crystal Clear."
Hayley's full solo album Petals For Armor, came out on May 8, 2020. Her new music was primarily co-written with Paramore guitarist Taylor York and their touring bassist Joey Howard. Taylor also produced the album.
On the day of the album release, Hayley also shared a music video for the song "Dead Horse," directed by Zac Farro.