After completing their After Laughter tour in September of 2018, the members of Paramore decided to take some time off. They all went back home, as Hayley Williams recounts on Annie Mac’s BBC Radio 1 show, and wanted to experience “adult life at home.” However, Williams experienced what she describes as “emotional whiplash” where she was finally able to feel and process all that she had gone through right before After Laughter was released. With “Simmer,” she was able to portray her emotions in a raw and almost animalistic way.
The song, penned by Williams, bandmate Taylor York, and touring bassist Joey Howard, opens with a subtle bang — instantly preparing you for something different as Williams gasps, hums, and scats over an unrecognizable, almost futuristic instrument. Silence is used very carefully in this track, by removing instrumentation under important lines (such as “I’d sooner gut him”) and cutting off portions with a hasty gasp.
Anger is a prominent theme throughout the song. From the color red encompassing both the music video as well as the single art, to the first line uttered in the song (“rage”), it’s clear that Williams has had a lot on her chest that she hadn’t gotten the chance to say. The song asks a question, similar to Paramore’s “Forgiveness,” of when to “draw the line between wrath and mercy.”
The bridge drops the concept of “petals for armor,” the name of the album that Williams is releasing on May 8th. Hayley has described this music as being exactly how she imagined and, judging by the first single, it’s going to be alternative perfection.
You can stream “Simmer” below.
