Perhaps you haven’t heard, or maybe you just don’t care, but Paramore have dropped their brand new single Now this week.The self-titled album has been lingering on the lips of fans for near over a year, with the only information of their 4th studio-album release being in amidst 2013. However, we’ve finally been rewarded the first taste of what’s to come this year – and it’s fair to say that not everybody wants the future now!
This tune has everything I like to hear in a Paramore track: an optimistic vibe of rejection and the future; let’s not forget Haley’s brilliant husk-like voice and the amazing band of Taylor and Jeremy. I, personally, love the song – it’s on repeat as I write this. However, at scrolling through comments on YouTube (never a great idea by the way, but oh well…) it became clear to me that Paramore fans can be just as picky and cynical as the infamously critical Beliebers! Disappointed fans commented things such as: “Well, seems like Paramore are going down hill now” & “They’ve done better.” You know what they say, people don’t like change. Some say that they’ve strayed too far from their previous work – but, like with all fan bases, the “hardcore” fans fought back: “I don’t know why people are hating, I think this song is amazing as usual with Paramore.” If you’ve heard Paramore’s last release Brand New Eyes which was released 4 years ago – you’ll be able to understand the slight musical shift and what the fans are debating. But, that was 4 years ago – perhaps they have changed; is change always bad? But, one comment that I did read seemed to sum up the entire situation perfectly “This song was always going to cause controversy, and at the end of the day I’m glad I’m one of the lucky ones who can appreciate it. This is still Paramore, they were going to change, they had to, and I love this sound coming from them.”
Would fans have been happy with Brand New Eyes… part 2 or a re-packaging of RIOT! – I think not. The point I’m trying to get at here is that musical talents have to change; evolve – people learn and grow and so do their tastes (especially with artists!) So, it’s not shock to me that their music has changed – if you don’t like, nevermind. If you do like it, great! But what people need to understand is that taste is personal and cannot be changed to suit others’ needs – this applies both to the artist and the fan.
However, all of this aside, the track is brilliant. It’s great to hear some new music after so long and I for one am excited to hear their fourth album Paramore which is released 9th April. I can hardly wait!