Hayley Williams has revealed her new solo album "freed" the 15-year-old who signed an "oppressive" recording contract.
The Paramore frontwoman was locked in an "oppressive" 360 recording contract with Atlantic Records for 20 years, from the age of 15 until the release of Paramore's 2023 album This Is Why.
For her first project as an independent artist, the 36-year-old released the solo album, Ego Death At A Bachelorette Party, in late August.
Reflecting on the album, Hayley told The Face, ?"In a lot of ways, writing this record gave the 15-year-old version of myself, who felt like she had lost a lot of her power by signing to a major label, a voice. It freed her, so I don't have to be arrested in that stage of development anymore."
However, the Airplanes singer admitted that completing her recording contract brought about unexpected feelings of grief.
"I just thought it'd be like a birthday party. Oh, we're finally done. Freedom. But we don't really talk that much about the grief that can come with good things," she confessed. ?"It was a giant change that also left me asking, ?'What am I going to push against now?'"
For her solo record, Hayley opted against a traditional release, choosing to initially drop all 17 singles on a password-protected website and letting fans help her order the tracks before she eventually put them together into a conventional album.
"It just felt like I needed to do the opposite of whatever we'd been doing before. I know every pair of hands that has touched this project, and it feels like a real DIY punk rock community," she explained of the unusual process.
?"It's been really exciting to do something because I think it might be cool, and not to have to convince an entire team at a label about it."
Hayley released the album via her own label, titled Post Atlantic, a cheeky reference to her previous contract.
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