Paramore Go Throwback ’80s With ‘Hard Times’ and Announce New Album ‘After Laughter’

Paramore releases comeback single “Hard Times."

The Hayley Williams-fronted rock trio, who last dropped a new LP in 2013, have put a little pep in their step with “Hard Times,” a noticeably lighter departure from broodingly dark tracks like “Monster” and “Part II.” And in the video above, the song’s breezy synth effects and sunny vocals are matched by cartoonish gel pen-swirls, hovering paper spaceships and scenery you might otherwise find in Lisa Frank’s fever dream.

“All that I want is to wake up fine / Tell me that I’m all right, that I ain’t gonna die,” Williams pleads as storybook rainclouds gather around her head.

And the single came coupled with the band’s announcement that a brand new album called After Laughter will drop May 12. ‘hello and thanks for waiting,’ the group tweeted with the long-awaited update. Still, fans seemed perfectly content to have hung on.

“I’m already dead, pls play this in my funeral,” one wrote in response, while another noted “the definition of a BOP.”
Check out the full After Laughter track listing below, and be sure to catch the group on tour soon!

​“Hard Times”
“Rose-Colored Boy”
“Told You So”
“Forgiveness”
“Fake Happy”
“26”
“Pool”
“Grudges”
“Caught in the Middle”
“Idle Worship”
“No Friend”
“Tell Me How”