I will admit, I was a fan of Paramore's older, "emo" sound in the mid- late 2000's. Not to date myself too much but their debut album, All we know is Falling, came out my freshman year of High school, and their second album, Riot, came out my junior year.

I was used to Hayley Williams' angsty lyrics, along with the band's fast paced rhythmic alt rock sound for a majority of those years, along with the sound of their 2009 album Brand New Eyes. When Josh and ZacFarro left the band in 2013, the band had a new line up and released a self-titled album the same year. I wasn't a fan of the singles such as "Ain't it fun", and I was disgruntled at the new lineup and sound.

So, when I first heard Paramore's first single off their newest album After Laughter, "titled "Hard times," I was hesitant to listen. I barely recognized William's vocals in the track and was almost convinced that it was not worth a listen. However, a couple of weeks ago, I happened to be watching an episode of Late Night With James Corden, and who would be the musical guest?

You guessed it, Paramore. They performed their other single "Told You So, " and I was impressed.

I decided to take a listen to the entire album and immediately noticed that the album had a slight influence from their earlier, guitar and drum rhythm sound, while also going in a new direction with their upbeat pop sound.

The first half of the album has an electro/synth pop rhythm, whereas the second half maintain the instrumentation of their earlier albums, such as “Fake Happy.” In this track, the intro starts off with only the acoustic guitar and William’s vocals. Then, the song picks up in a slow rhythmic electronic pop sound. The synth pop instrumentation seemed influenced by ‘80s group Blondie, and this sound is especially heard in the track “Grudges.”

“No Friend” is an unusual track, since Williams does not sing on the track, and the vocals consist of a male vocalist mumbling over the track. Although the song has a good rhythm and sound, the mumbling detracts from the song’s overall experience.

The track “26” and “Tell Me How” (the last song of the album) is also reminiscent of their old sound. The lyrics of “Tell Me How” are somber, and combined with the guitar instrumentation, provides a toned down ending to the album, compared to the peppiness of the rest of the album.

Most of the songs have good melodies matched with depressing lyrics, and a prime example of this is seen in “Rose Colored Boy.” The track is one of the most upbeat throughout the song, but the lyrics juxtapose the sound, such as, Just let me cry/ a little bit longer, I don’t have to smile/if I don’t want to. Another track, “Idle Worship” also has an upbeat sound at the chorus, while stating that no one should look up to the speaker of the song (likely Williams herself) since they were fallible and had the same capability to disappoint as much as anyone else.

Overall, the song was a pleasant surprise, and I ended up listening to the entire album three times in a row. Although Paramore departs into an entirely different direction in After Laughter, the result does not alienate anyone who was a sound of their earlier albums.

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Favorite Tracks: "Rose Colored Boy" and "Tell Me How."

Least Favorite Track: "No Friend"

Overall rating: 8/10