This Is Why

A jittery post-punk record zeroing in on pandemic-fueled anxieties, winning Best Rock Album at the 66th Grammys.

This Is Why is the sixth studio album by the American rock band Paramore, released on February 10, 2023, through Atlantic Records. It is their first album since 2017, following After Laughter, and the third recorded by the lineup of Hayley Williams, Taylor York, and Zac Farro. The album was supported by four singles: "This Is Why", "The News", "C'est Comme Ça", and "Running Out of Time". It debuted at number two on the Billboard 200 with 64,000 album-equivalent units in its first week, 47,000 of which were pure album sales. The album won Best Rock Album and the album's title track won Best Alternative Music Performance at the 66th Annual Grammy Awards; Paramore was the first female-fronted rock band to win the Grammy Award for Best Rock Album.

Quick Facts

Artist

Paramore

Released

10 February 2023

Recorded

2022

Studio

United (Los Angeles)
Music Friends (Los Angeles)
Glenwood Place (Burbank)

Genre

Post-punk
dance-punk
art punk
alternative rock
new wave

Length

36:12

Label

Atlantic

Producer

Carlos de la Garza

Lore & Background

Discussions about a sixth Paramore album began in 2020 while Hayley Williams was promoting her solo album Petals for Armor. Williams hinted the next album would be more guitar-driven, stating, "We've found ourselves listening to a lot of older music that we grew up being inspired by." She further commented on the sound in 2022, likening it to Bloc Party: "From day one, Bloc Party was the number one reference because there was such an urgency to their sound." In January 2022, the band confirmed they had entered the studio. The album was recorded as the band's first to have a title track. Critics described it as a "jittery post-punk record" with influences from Foals, Bloc Party, and Talking Heads. George Griffiths of the Official Charts Company called it a "confidently jagged, hard post-punk soundscape," while Billboard described it as "a tight, post-punk juggernaut that zeroes in on pandemic-fueled anxieties." The back half of the album was noted as feeling "tonally different from the front, more personal and relational and coming closer to their pop-punk roots."

Reader's Guide

This Is Why received widespread acclaim, holding a score of 85 out of 100 on Metacritic based on 20 critics' reviews, indicating "universal acclaim." Matt Collar of AllMusic wrote that the album "pulls the artistic and emotional threads of their career into a cohesive, ardent whole." Ims Taylor of Clash praised the songwriting, noting Williams is "both elegant and sandpaper-coarse, depending on what is called for." DIY called it "another bold and brilliant transformation for the trio" and "Paramore's most ambitious record yet." Alexis Petridis of The Guardian wrote that "the agitated drumming and angular guitars meld with the big riffs and stop-start dynamics of pop-punk and an acute understanding of pop songcraft." NME found it "as in tune with the textures of today's forward-thinking rock as much as it is a love letter to Paramore's brilliantly caustic early days." Pitchfork noted the band "reach for the propulsive sounds of post-punk" but found the album "front-loaded with lyrical missteps." In June 2023, Alternative Press included the release in their top 25 albums of the year to date, calling it "anything but reserved." In December 2023, NME ranked the album as the fifth-best of the year.

Track listing

No.	Title	Length
1	This Is Why	3:27
2	The News	3:07
3	Running Out of Time	3:12
4	C'est Comme Ça	2:29
5	Big Man, Little Dignity	4:20
6	You First	4:05
7	Figure 8	3:24
8	Liar	4:21
9	Crave	3:55
10	Thick Skull	3:52
Total length		36:12

Re: This Is Why track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1	This Is Why (Re: Foals)	Jimmy Smith	5:52
2	The News (Re: The Linda Lindas)	Bela Salazar, Eloise Wong, Lucia de la Garza, Mila de la Garza, Carlos de la Garza	3:26
3	Running Out of Time (Re: Panda Bear)	Noah Lennox	4:24
4	Running Out of Time (Re: Zane Lowe)	Zane Lowe	4:45
5	C'est Comme Ça (Re: Wet Leg)	Rhian Teasdale, Hester Chambers	2:25
6	Big Man, Little Dignity (Re: Domi and JD Beck)	Domitille Degall, James Denis Beck	3:00
7	You First (Re: Remi Wolf)	Wolf, Jared Solomon	3:54
8	Figure 8 (Re: Bartees Strange)	Bartees Cox Jr., Chris Connors	3:36
9	Liar (Re: Romy)	Romy Madley Croft	4:37
10	Crave (Re: Claud)	Claud Mintz	3:30
11	Thick Skull (Re: Julien Baker)	Baker	4:54
12	Sanity (demo)		3:31
Total length			47:59

Frequently Asked Questions

When was the album This Is Why officially released?

Paramore issued this sixth studio record via Atlantic Records on February 10, 2023. It served as their first new music since 2017's After Laughter.

Which band members performed on the tracklist?

The project utilizes the trio lineup of Hayley Williams, Taylor York, and Zac Farro. This marks only the second album recorded by this specific group configuration.