Hayley Williams - "Simmer"
By: Nicole Juliette Hetlyn
“Wrap yourself in petals,
Wrap yourself in petals for armor.”
Photo by Lindsey Byrnes
For the past month, Hayley Williams has been teasing us with cryptic messages about new music. Fans discovered a Petals for Armor Instagram account a few months ago, followed by Hayley and rapidly started to piece this together. On her birthday (12/27), Hayley left us with a post: “I’m putting out some new music [in 2020]. With the help of some of my closest friends, I made something I’m going to call my own. It’s a really special project and you’ll get a taste of it in January.” A few days later, it was confirmed that this was linked to Petals for Armor, and we would get something 01.22.20. Posters started going up around major cities, and Hayley kept uploading close up photos of flowers and videos of … heavy breathing and running through woods. Not confusing at all.
“If I had seen my reflection
As something more precious
He would’ve never
Mmm, and if my child needed protection
From a fucker like that man
I’d sooner gut him
‘Cause nothing cuts like a mother”
After a few weeks of 100’s of theories (Paramore fans are some of the most creative and intelligent people I know), we finally have “Simmer.” This video/song FAR exceeds my expectations. “Simmer” features Hayley running from something + someone, and shows that it’s a conflict that she’s trying to realize is not her fault. She’s taking control and showing empowerment. Her strength is fearless, and boy do we applaud her. I love how Hayley is really stepping outside of the box and showing a new level of confidence. The song itself is also 10/10. With a pop vibe - featuring Hayley scatting and changing up the sound throughout the song, I am in love with this sound all around.
So where does “Petals for Armor” come in? This is a lyric (mentioned above). Also, potentially the album name, or just Hayley’s project. TBD. This also circles back to her interview with l-odet, when Hayley told us about how flowers were now one of her signs of comfort and femininity:
I was on the table and I had a lot of thoughts about my wedding. I remembered some stuff that I just hadn’t remembered before — just how uncomfortable I felt in that dress and things that I so quickly turned off because I wanted it so badly to work out. And then later in the session I had this vision of all of these flowers growing out of me. My cynical side immediately took it and was like, “Well, the only way that happens is if you’re dead, you’re in the ground, and somebody put some pretty flowers there.” But then this new side that I’d never had access to, swiftly flew in and batted that away and said, “No. That’s you. This is now. This is what’s happening right now and this is what you’ve been digging around in the dirt for during the last year. This beauty and femininity and new strength is going to come out of you.” And I chose to hold onto it….
I’ve picked up a lot of flowers for my house since then. I just keep them around me all the time to remind me that I’m moving into femininity and strength and then femininity and aloneness — you know, that power of being self-sufficient, but being soft too, and open
“How to draw the line between wrath and mercy?
Simmer, simmer, simmer, simmer, simmer down.”
It warms my heart that Taylor and Joey are part of this. I know this isn’t a “Paramore project,” and I am not asking it be one. I am just happy that Hayley is able to create art with her friends and do what she loves with her friends. I’m also so excited that Lindsey Byrnes is the creative director / has been doing the promotional photos. She is one of my favorite photographers and knows how to truly capture emotion - not just take a photo. I’m glad she was able to take Hayley’s vision and bring it to life. You can physically feel Hayley’s pain in this video, and you want nothing more than to give her a hug and go slap a certain boy in the face. At this point, we don’t know what’s in store for Hayley Williams + Petal for Armor. We’re hoping for a full length album + tour dates, but for now, we’ll just wait for more cryptic posts and keep listening to “Simmer.” Check out the official video below.
Directed by Warren Fu | Produced by Whitney Jackson | Director of Photography - Thomas Banks | Creative Director - Lindsey Byrnes | Music Written by - Hayley Williams, Taylor York & Joey Howard | Music Produced By: Taylor York | Local Producer (Tennessee) - Loren Hughes & DREAMBEAR | Executive Producer - Sara Nix | Production Company - Partizan Entertainment | Costume Designer - Steph Thorpe | Hair & Makeup - Brian O’Connor | Special Effects Makeup - Ben Rittenhouse | Production Designer - Marcus Cooley | Story by - Warren Fu, Hayley Williams & Lindsey Byrnes | Editors - Warren Fu & Wes Sanchez | Color - Kaitlyn Battistelli @ Ethos | Sound Design - Brandon Kim @ Therapy Studios | VFX - Eric Epstein | VFX - Max Colt @ Frender
Related articles:
Nicole Juliette interviews Hayley Williams and Brian O’Connor of goodDYEyoug [ HERE ]
”You Are Now Surrounded by Flowers” - Samantha Mazza of Rebel Hearts (Podcast) breaks down all of the Petals for Armor connections to life, love, and Midsommar. [ HERE ]
Connect with Hayley Williams:
Facebook . Twitter . Instagram . Petals for Armor Website
[ Paramore . goodDYEyoung ]