Paramore Surprises With New Single “Hard Times” Off Upcoming Album, ‘After Laughter’

Paramore is back! After four long years, the trio hit us hard today with a new single, its music video, and an album announcement. They premiered “Hard Times” along with its colorful music video this morning. If you liked the sound of “Still Into You” and “Ain’t It Fun” from their last album, you’ll probably enjoy this. “Hard Times” has a clear 1980s/1990s influence, but it’s punchy and honest, in classic Paramore form. It comes from their long-awaited fifth album, After Laughter, due out on May 12th. Yes, in just three weeks.

Let’s back it up here. After releasing their self-titled fourth album in 2013, Paramore took a few years off to regroup. Bassist Jeremy Davis left the band, but drummer Zac Farro rejoined Paramore. (His brother, Josh Farro, has not yet returned.) Hayley Williams married Chad Gilbert from New Found Glory and started her own hair-dye company, goodDYEyoung. Now Paramore is a trio consisting of Hayley, Zac, and guitarist Taylor York.

Last month, twelve songs written by Hayley, Taylor, and Zac appeared on ASCAP. One of them was “Hard Times,” which is our peppy new single. In the video, the trio are backed by flashing animations and neon signs. Check out “Hard Times” below:

“Hard Times” is the lead single and first track on After Laughter. The album, out May 12th, will include the following 12 songs:

1. Hard Times
2. Rose-Colored Boy
3. Told You So
4. Forgiveness
5. Fake Happy
6. 26
7. Pool
8. Grudges
9. Caught In The Middle
10. Idle Worship
11. No Friend
12. Tell Me How

Ten of those song titles were registered on ASCAP last month. The only new song titles are “26” and “No Friend”. The two songs they replaced are “Idle Worship Outro” (which may still be part of “Idle Worship”) and “What It Costs.”

You can pre-order After Laughter on iTunes now and get an instant download of the first single. You can also choose from a number of After Laughter bundles on Paramore’s official store. Keep checking back here for all the latest Paramore news.

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