As a longtime fan of her and her work, obviously I loved Hayley Williams’ third solo studio record Ego Death At A Bachelorette Party – or EDAABP for short. But there was something different about this album that stood out amongst her released solo work so far that she’s been dropping outside of Paramore. Not sure if you’ve heard of them. They’re kind of underground and not super well-known (me when I lie). 

No but seriously, these songs feel the most honest and raw she’s ever been lyrically, and if you know me, you know I love a good lyric. I feel like there are two types of music listeners in this world: people who listen for overall sound (instrumentation/production), and people who listen for composition (lyrics/storytelling). As a writer and songwriter myself whose music has a big emphasis on lyricism and narrative, I am very much part of the latter group of folks. I just love words and all the different ways we can use them, and it’s so special when a songwriter can manipulate language to get their message across through music. Especially when there’s lore attached that listeners are aware of and can find easter eggs or connections to. Hayley does such a phenomenal job with this throughout the album, drawing us into her world and really inviting us into her brain a little more with each track.

Also, this is not to say that the way that a song sounds doesn’t matter, because of course it does. It most definitely does for me personally in order to enjoy a piece of music. I’m a musician!! It would be sooooo silly if I thought that it didn’t matter. I just personally place a tonnnn of emphasis on lyrics when making a song. What I don’t think really matters in the long run, is if the mixing is imperfect or if anything is the teensiest bit off from the click at certain points (specifically if it’s something tracked by a real person like singing or playing an instrument) and it’s unnoticeable to anyone except pretentious music dudes. IF THE SONG IS GOOD, THE SONG IS GOOD!!! LET ME LIVE!!! Sincerely, Girl Who Despises Using A Metronome To Record <3

Anyways, back to EDAABP. When this album dropped, as far as the general public knew, she was still in a relationship with Paramore bandmate, guitarist Taylor York. Real ones know they’d been romantically linked for YEARS in a yearning way, because everyone loves a friends-to-lovers slow burn. And mannnnnn had they been burning for a while. It was just kind of always speculated that they were secretly in love or had a crush on each other. And then in 2018, they seemed to be getting closer… Yay… Then, around her first solo album Petals For Armor released in 2020, she included songs that hinted at these speculations being true. FINALLY, in 2022, they officially confirmed they were together. Everyone rejoiced!!!! And so for a while, the #Tayley truthers of Paramore nation were satisfied and content in knowing their favs were finally a couple (including myself obviously).

But then EDAABP dropped in 2025 after a bit of silence on the #Tayley front. We heard “Parachute” and we all freaked out because it sounded like a breakup song. And then there were deluxe tracks that trickled in one by one: “Good Ol’ Days” and “Showbiz”. The former dropped first, and basically confirmed their breakup with the lyrics “Not easy letting go of the one / I’m not Stevie, I won’t hex ya / But my voice may surely vex ya / For that, I’m sorry / I just wanna love ya, but you won’t let me” – like… it truly couldn’t be clearer. Drawing a comparison to the infamous #SituationshipOfAllTime between Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham of Fleetwood Mac is not only insane, but so incredibly apt. A “Silver Springs” reference??? Are you kidding me??? Like yeah. Huh. They really are the Nicks and Buckingham relationship of our generation… I was genuinely speechless. Full body chills. You should’ve seen what Twitter looked like on release night. The other deluxe track, “Showbiz”, further confirmed the split with “Guess that’s curtains / Was it just showbiz?”. People cried (me). 

I think trying to decode (no Paramore pun intended) all the little signals and references was what really made the listening experience for me. That’s something I’ve always wanted to happen out of my music – people analyzing and picking apart my lyrics, guessing what things are about, getting invested in the lore… it sounds so silly but this is My Truth!!!! Because I really do intentionally place and word lyrics in a specific way for a specific reason, and I’m sure Hayley does the same. It’s just more fun for fans of her, because she’s so famous that her personal life and relationships are public knowledge, too. But even besides knowing the lore, I firmly believe that just as a standalone project with no prior context, anyone would have a great experience listening. It’s truly a testament to her artistry, creative spirit, and ability to be an artist outside of the band. She doesn’t just touch upon her relationship lore, but also her own personal history and spiritual reframing. “True Believer” stands out heavily to me in terms of how lethal and bold she is with a pen, and how brave she is to release a song criticizing the state of the country in relation to the biblical values that most claim to hold – when in reality, they’re not “true believers”, they’re just bigoted nationalists. I also think about “Ice In My OJ” a lot because it interpolates a song from one of Hayley’s first recorded records from 2003, which was an Christian CD and comic series – another subtle reference to how she’s navigating her evangelical upbringing versus her relationship to spirituality and religion as an adult, which I also personally relate to. 

If I had to name my top 3 on the record (which feels impossible) I would probably go with “Kill Me”, “Parachute”, and “Disappearing Man”. Don’t hold me to those, though, because this album genuinely has no skips for me. It’s been in my rotation ever since it was released. Everything about it is just so genius to me and ever since it came out, I recommend it to anyone who asks for album recs. Gaaaahhhhh it’s just so good.

So.. am I a Superfan of EDAABP? Girl obviously. Go listen to it literally right now if you know what’s good for you!!!