After laughter

On January 19, 2016, Hayley Williams tweeted that the group was in the process of recording their fifth album. ^[7] On June 8, 2016, the group published a short video from the studio on its page on the social network. ^[8] This was preceded by a series of photos featuring former drummer Zach Farro and producer Justin Meldal-Johnsen , ^[9] which made fans and some media sources predict Farro's return. ^[10] On June 17, Farro was again seen in a photograph posted on the social network. This time he sat at the drum kit, confirming that he would record drums for the new album. ^[11] However, he later explained that he would only record drum parts for the album, but did not return to the group as a regular member. ^[12] Despite this, on February 2, 2017, the group announced the official return of Farro as a permanent drummer for the group. ^[13] The album was recorded at Nashville's RCA Studio B, becoming the first album recorded by the group in their hometown. The album was produced by Justin Meldal-Johnsen, who also produced the album Paramore (2013), and guitarist Taylor York. ^[14]

Before creating the album, in an interview with The New York Times , Hayley Williams said: “I was not even sure that we would record another album ...” ... “There was a time when I did not even want this to happen. But then I wanted it to happen, but I don’t know how we will do it. ” ^[15]

Regarding the title of the album, Williams states: “After Laughter is the moment when you look at the face of a person who has stopped laughing. If you look at someone for a long time, there will always be this look that takes a person who has ceased to smile, and I am always amazed with admiration for returning a person back to reality. That's what After Laughter is. ” ^[16]

On March 4, 2017, 12 tracks were recorded on the ASCAP ACE Repertory resource, ten of which ended up among the album tracks.

On April 19, 2017, the main single “Hard Times” was released, along with the clip of the same name and the beginning of the pre-order for the album, during which the cover was published, the name of the album, the list of tracks and the release date became known. ^[17] Later on the band's official website, a European tour in support of the album, starting in Ireland on June 15, was announced. ^{[18] [19]} RiotFest festival organizers have confirmed that Paramore will be among the participants in September. ^{[20] [21]} On May 3, the band released their second single from the album, titled “Told You So,” ^[22] along with a video for the song. ^[23] On May 5, the group announced their participation in the Jimmy Kimmel show on May 17. ^[24] On May 10, the album was leaked to the network before the official release. ^[25] On the day the album was released, the group announced their third Parahoy! Cruise, which will take place from April 6 to 10, 2018, from Miami to Nassau . ^[26] On May 17, the group performed on the Jimmy Kimmel show. ^[27] On May 25, the group performed on another show: "Late late show with James Corden." ^[28] On August 29, the third single, Fake Happy, was released. ^[29] The video for the song “Fake Happy” was released on November 17th. ^[30] On February 5, 2018, the video "Rose-Colored Boy" was released, directed by Warren Fu. This song became the fourth single of the album. ^[31] On June 26, the fifth single "Caught in the Middle" was released, accompanied by a surreal video clip for the same song. ^{[32] [33]}

After Laughter is a departure from the sound of previous Paramore material, the pop punk and emo sounds of past albums are left behind. ^{[34] [35]} According to information from the AllMusic website, the album was recorded in the synth-pop and new wave genres. ^[34] Paste magazine describes the album as “new wave pop of the 80s” ^[36] Billboard agrees that it is an album in the style of “new wave pop of the early 80s”, to the same extent that songs from After Laughter can be called a “smooth tanned indie pop” ^[35] Newsday wrote that the group “goes deeper into its own pop rock world”, noting also that the album is a collection of songs about how to stay cheerful in the face of the misfortunes that surround the marmalade-colorful world of the 80s pop music, built on smooth synthesizer sounds and sharp guitars tinted by Africans kim beat, performed by the return of Zack Farro. ^[37]

“Hard Times” and “Rose-Colored Boy” are “80s mass-produced pop music with a luxurious rhythm powered by a powerhouse in the form of Hayley Williams vocals jumping to unexpectedly funny heights” with disco tones. “Fake Happy” begins with a sad acoustic loss, “which turns into an ambitious funky hymn about everyone who hides their sadness.” NME Magazine writes that Grudges sounds like an over-stressed version of The Bangles . “Pool” is compared to the “classic rock heroine”, the band Heart . “Forgiveness” is a “dreamy and powerful ballad,” and “26” is a “tearing-up” song.

Matt Collard of AllMusic noted that “ York made a big contribution as a co-author of all the songs, whose skillful playing of the guitar and keyboards made the greatest contribution to creating a distinctive and distinctive sounding of the album. But of course, Williams is still the central character of Paramore’s work, her voice is a connecting thread, passing through all the songs of the album and bearing its characteristic warmth and joy. Tracks such as the opening song with the Hard Times disco and the dramatically slowing down of “Told You So” are an abundance of corrosive hot tunes with vivid marimba sounds and cooler and more adult modern synthesizers. Williams with his arpeggios weaves the warmth of Cure’s song “Friday I'm In Love” by “Grudges” and the behavior of Annie Lennox’s diva in the track “Forgiveness.” ^[38] John The Karamanica of The New York Times noted that Paramore “thinks alike again, but not like before.” "Miss Williams and her band’s musicians Zach Farro and Taylor York turned themselves into an 80s pop rock band: hard digital percussion, synthesizers and Miss Williams’s most intense, sugary vocals." ^[41] In his positively tuned review, The Guardian writes that the album is “caramel-covered bitterness at its best — and may turn them away from the crowd of Kerrang readers !” but what surely won't change is Paramore’s emotional roots - the theatrical focusing of inner anger. ” ^[42] The Newsday newspaper praised the album, saying“ the closer Paramore gets to the breakup, the better they find reasons to stay together, ”adding that the album “contains popular hits that only Paramore can do. And this is the ideal reason for the group to continue to exist. ” ^[37] NME Magazine wrote: “Catharsis is usually not so enjoyable, but sometimes a smile through pain works better than crying.” ^[39] According to the Sputnikmusic After Laughter website, the first Paramore album since 2010 has really changed its style, referring to the tracks “No Friend” and “26” as the most striking compositions by Paramore. ^[43] Paste's Liana Kaplan of Paste stated that people’s love for Williams has not gone away, while noting that “once plunged into a heavy pop album, which is After Laughter, it becomes clear that Paramore’s less hectic look is only superficial perception. If you look deeper, you can see that Williams is fighting himself in an attempt to apologize (“Forgiveness”, “Caught In The Middle”) and not lose face in front of the public (“Fake Happy”). ” ^[36]

The words and music of all the songs are Hayley Williams and Taylor York , all the songs are produced by York and Justin Meldal-Johnson.

Listed by AllMusic . ^[44]

Paramore

• Hayley Williams - vocals, keyboards, percussion, backing vocals
• Taylor York - guitar, keyboards, percussion, marimba, producing, technician, mixing, computer processing, backing vocals
• Zach Farro - drums, keyboards, percussion, bells, backing vocals

Additional participants

• Official Paramore Website