This week: a 10/10 release that breaks all the rules. And some news, plus a few more music recommendations.

This Week's Contents

  • Hayley Williams release "chaos" summarised
  • DiS' 10/10 Review
  • For musicians: Some learnings from the campaign
  • Music News Digest
  • Community Notes
  • Recommended New Releases
  • And some bits to bookmark for later

Reminder: Our podcast now comes out every Tuesday.

This week, there's no inspiring change-maker or innovative artist. Instead, it me. Answering your fantastic questions about live streams, what Spotify will be like 5 years from now (will it even exist?!), why you can't make a living from 25 million streams, and how to use social media if you hate social media. Feel free to reply if you have any Qs for a future episode.

🎧 Tune in on Apple Podcasts, YouTube or search for "Drowned in Sound" wherever you get your podcasts.

Photos by Zachary Gray from yelyahwilliams

17 Songs by Hayley Williams

Hayley Williams just released 17 songs as an independent artist and it might foretell the death of the album. Maybe. Kind of. Probably.

The Release

  • This is the third solo "album" by Paramore's Hayley Williams
  • Is it an "album"? We get into it below.
  • The release is presented as 17 singles
  • Each single has unique black & white photos by Zachary Gray with golden highlights
  • There's currently no official album cover.
  • Nor a confirmed album title. Fans and some media are calling the collection of singles Ego, but it's unclear if that is the name (we'll call it Ego, for now)
  • This is the first release since Paramore/Hayley left the major label Warner/Atlantic
  • Hayley posted on Instagram: "first time in my career i get to put out music as a fully independent artist. its been so insane starting over in so many ways. thank you guys for helping me realize this moment."
  • The 17 singles were distributed by Secretly, who look after some great independent labels like Sacred Bones, Jagjagjuar, Merge, etc.
  • Fun fact: Her debut solo album Petals for Armor was number 2 in our albums of 2020.

The Rollout

  • The first signs something was afoot was on July 23rd when Hayley announced the premiere of the snarlin' 'Mirtazapine' on Nashville's WNXP - the choice of place to air the track felt like a statement of solidarity, given the Trump regime just defunded a lot of public radio in America
  • Then some fun little clips popped up on Stereogum's Insta
  • On July 28th, these songs were then released on hayleywilliams.net. You needed a special code to access the record, which was available from the vegan and cruelty free hair dye company she co-founded, Good Dye Young (from a marketing point of view, this NIN Ghosts-like approach seemed like a very smart brand awareness and data capture move)
  • A day later they were gone. Kerrang! reported that what remained was a message saying “Hello, there. Thank you for listening.”
  • And then came the surprise release...

The Review | Rating: 10/10

This collection of songs is further evidence that Hayley Williams is the most poignant lyricist of her/my/our generation and the melodies are impeccable too. Her voice is transportive, swaying in the breeze atop warm plumes of backing vocals, sad grooves, and sarcastic sighs.

Let's rewind a little before we get into it... in their early days, when they first signed to a major label, Paramore were a bunch of preened, punk-loving, MySpace teens who squeezed the lemons of Weezer and Jimmy Eat World to make perfect emo-pop lemonade (or "sugar metal" as a few people called it back in the early days of the interwebz). Their moreish songwriting style was so full of hooks and sing-a-long-bits that you can detect their impact on 1989-era Taylor Swift.

When Paramore shed their emo skin and took off their studded belts, they peddled away from the increasingly generic emo-rock scene, and began to explore a whole new terrain. This new land was luminous but still a bit raucous, and they made this new planet their own.

Then, fast forward through arena tours and all that... and Williams released two sensational solo records that have an Elliott Smith intimacy and a Caroline Polachek - errrm - pang to them.

At times, the solo records had an ouroboros energy - as if the songs were semi-inspired by acts like Phoebe Bridgers and this year's Glastonbury headliner Olivia Rodrigo, who were part of a crop of new songwriters who had ingested Paramore's juice.

Petals For Armor and its follow-up Flowers for Vases / Descansos were the perfect lockdown companions. They met the unexpected moment, soundtracking slumping on sofas, long walks with headphones, and bedroom dance parties.

On first impressions (I'm 6 listens deep), in places Ego is much lighter and at times lyrically sillier than the previous solo records.

There's a perfect sprinkling of swearing and big dollops of self-awareness. Sometimes these observation-peppered-songs feel brightly lit - in contrast to the often subdued, gloriously stripped back tunes on Flowers... or the grainy voice notes & dead-pan bombast of tunes like 'High Horse' or the St Vincent-y 'Cinnamon' from Petals...

I mean, tracks like 'Glum' have a not-quite-chipmunks auto-tune, whilst a cover of Blood Hound Gang's 'Discovery Channel' has a 90s chuckle & charm. Deadly-deadly srs songwriter fare, this is not.

If anything, Ego has rage in its sails but also feels like the most terminally online internet elder record that Hayley could possibly make in 2025. It's a Hipstamatic snapshot in a hall of mirrors. It's the confessions of someone whose notebook is full of lines written is those moments doomscrolling has become thumbing through hell - admittedly, much like our timelines, it's occasionally punctuated by gallows humour (as we descend into end times fascism).

This selection box of songs oscillates from slightly flirty to politely seething. This duality is perfectly distilled in the slouchy verses, howled harmony, and screamed down a Beastie Boys megaphone choruses of 'Ice In My OJ' and 'Brotherly Hate'.

The levity makes the moments of heft kick like a mule.

'Negative Self Talk' took my breath away on first listen and instantly needed to be repeated. It's a gentle song that sneaks in, makes you feel comfortable, air drops a line like "hope takes a bow" before taking a Muhammad Ali-swing at you with the line "I write like a volcano, projectile spewing out."

'Kill Me' has a Fleetwood Mac stomp to the drums and a soulful KIIIIILL MEEEEE backing vocals that make it the most perfect 2m 47s pop song. Then there's the ode to Steve 'Zissou' that drifts and smirks into gorgeous tune that wouldn't be out of place on a Postal Service record.

"You could really have anyone, except for me, I suppose. So it goes..."
- 'Disappearing Man'

The collection of singles is an embarrassment of riches and it's hard to pick a favourite... but I can confirm that the brilliantly bitchy 'Disappearing Man' is the song no-one wants written about them. It has a killer hook, with a kiss of the knuckles as the song soars. Then there's 'Blood Bros' that feels like the loveliest early-00s rom-com end credits tune. The bubbly 'Love Me Different' has the most therapy-coded lament to the 4am F' You texts that you're glad you didn't send. And I've not even mentioned the calling out racists on 'Ego Death At A Bachelorette Party' or the haunted 'True Believer' that talks about hardcore shows in a place that's now a Dominos - and yes, she rhymes those words with aplomb!

Taster track: 'Love Me Different' is maybe the closest to the singles from Petals for Armor but has a whole different confidence and allure to it.

  • Mutations by Beck, Knives Don't Have Your Back by Emily Haines & The Soft Skeleton, and Hunky Dory by David Bowie
  • Earlier this year, Hayley duetted on the glorious 'I Like It I Like It' by Moses Sumney
  • And on the track 'SEEIN' STARS' from album of 2025 contender Never Enough by Turnstile.
  • Plus Hayley Williams features on 'Confessions' by Night Party, the new project by the album's producer Daniel James. He's previously worked with Mikky Ekko, H.E.R., Chris Taylor (Grizzly Bear), Efterklang and David Byrne, amongst others.

How to listen to Ego in one go

The bittie nature of how the tracks appear on some streaming platforms is a bit annoying. So turn Ego into a choose your own adventure and make a playlist out of it.

To be helpful, we've turned the record into a playlist on YouTube for you. We also clocked that YouTube have added a "vote" function, so why not go listen and tell us which is your favourite track?

The Strategy

Is it an "album" tho? That's the first question I asked myself, when presented with the 17 singles released on Friday morning. Rather than calling it an album, Hayley's PR described it on their instagram as so: "Hayley Williams Releases Surprise Collection of 17 New Singles"

It feels like the most wonderfully pointed prompt to start a conversation as to whether albums as a format are dead in a time of playlists and an increasingly track-focussed era.

Lessons for artists and the industry

It's been a while since a release from a major artist has really broken the mould like this (it reminds me a little of Kaiser Chiefs' album in 2011 where you could build it yourself, make your own record cover collage, etc). And I guess a bit like the artist who shall no longer be named, when he messed around with his album tracklisting on that Pablo record.

It will be interesting to see whether there's a vinyl or CD release, with all of the tracks in a fixed order. Perhaps it will be the most popular tracks... or a random fans' running order... but there's currently no sign if there will even be a physical version at all.

Given it's 4 years since the last solo album, Hayley Williams may be sat on a few albums worth of tunes, so will there be more surprise drops to follow...?! Or maybe this collection of songs will be back in the vault after this weekend as a comment on how streaming platforms aren't the same as music ownership... but there's no sign of that. Not yet anyway. Then again, there was no clue this record existed 10 days ago.

All of these unanswered questions have meant that this release has sparked a lot of discussion from fans. In doing something unexpected it has jolted the algorithm, and without a big pushy campaign, it has made room for a fan and media-led marketing to spread our excitement about the release.

In a way, this has given the release a similar chaotic-good-energy as Lorde's recent crowd-powered release. There's a little more about that here:

All of which is to say that if they're smart enough, artists at scale can still find ways to do something that doesn't feel like it has been done before, that feels inclusive and/or immersive, but above all plays the internet like any other instrument.

Thinking of leaving your current streaming service?

Fancy a month of free high-res audio on a platform whose CEO doesn't stick his profits into AI war drones? And want to support DiS as a bonus? Here's our code to join QoBuz.

In The News

A little digest of headlines that caught my eye in the last week or so:

  • London's Royal Albert Hall becomes the first venue to support the £1 grassroots levy (MusicAlly)
  • Money from Manchester gigs including Oasis and Billy Eilish to help fund grass roots music venues (ITV)
    • Related: The UK's nightlife has lost its mojo—can it be saved? Venues are in crisis, with more closures than ever — but superclubs, sober parties and new government powers could save the after-dark music scene. (National Geographic)
  • Brian Eno & Choose Love have teamed up for Together For Palestine. It will take place at Wembley Arena on 17th Sept 2025 (Instagram)
  • Pop songs are getting a little bit longer (BBC)
  • YouTube keeps taking down or de-monetising videos with clips of songs. The Darkness' Justin Hawkins has discussed how it's impacting him and people like The Needle Drop aka Anthony Fantano to make videos about music (YouTube)
  • In the UK, YouTube is now bigger than ITV. The video streaming service is second most-watched service. BBC is still number 1. Ofcom found that viewers spent an average of 39 minutes a day on YouTube in 2024. (Guardian)
  • Phoebe Bridgers had a legal victory. A judge ordered her accuser to pay nearly $900k in fees. Previously, a judge dismissed music producer Chris Nelson's case in 2022 (NME)
  • Liam and Noel Gallagher's brother charged with r*pe (BBC)
  • Equity have started a campaign to prevent musicians, festival staff, and pretty much anyone being forced to work in dangerously high temperatures (Instagram)
  • In the US, the National Independent Venue Association is calling on the government to address the market dominance of Live Nation (Instagram)
  • If you enjoyed our recent interview with Bicep about the soundtrack to TAKKUUK, you can now make plans to see the installation:

Community Notes

Music Recommendations

  • My tracks of the year playlist on YouTube has been updated with new music from Deftones, The Beths, and Wolf Alice, alongside some of the tunes of the year from clipping. featuring Aesop Rock, FKA twigs, Stealing Sheep, Cliffords, Kathryn Joseph, Scowl, Horsegirl, Lambrini Girls, and more.
  • Burial has released another dose of Burial (Hyperdub)
  • The DiS community were raving are Volver, the new EP by Sofia Kourtesis and rightly so. It's such a summery party-y, hands in the air, sweat on your eyelids, dancing 'til dawn on a tropical island selection of tunes:
Volver, by Sofia Kourtesis
6 track album
Sofia Kourtesissquirtgun

Bits To Bookmark For Later

  • Clairo does some gardening whilst chatting with NTS (YouTube)
  • Kate Nash hosts The Rise & Fall of Indie Sleaze (BBC Sounds)
  • CNN recorded a special about musicians leading the climate justice movement, including Billie Eilish (Podcast)
  • TW: Marilyn Manson survivor Bianca Allaine Kyne speaks to the From Now On podcast about being groomed as a teenager (YouTube)
  • Resident Advisor's co-founder gives a rare interview, as they, like DiS, head toward their 25th anniversary (YouTube)

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