Some of the best albums in rock & roll history were created out of the detritus from a relationship break-up – take Fleetwood Mac’s seminal Rumours, for instance. But for Tennessee pop outfit Paramore, an inter-band split wasn’t the easiest process to deal with, claims 21-year-old singer Hayley Williams.
With over seven million albums sold to date, the “Careful” singer has revealed that her split with Paramore guitarist Josh Farro made writing the tracks that appear on 2009’s hit LP Brand New Eyes a very painful process. Despite the fact that they’re now good friends, Williams says sharing her lyrics with the band, and her ex specifically, was particularly “embarrassing”.
“The entire record concerns not just my dating relationship with Josh, but the relationships between all of us,” Williams admitted. “It’s about the ways the other guys reacted to me and Josh, and to me. I definitely felt very secluded. It was more embarrassing after Tussauds the split. We’d get into arguments and he’d be like, ‘Why can’t you write in front of me? It shouldn’t be that big of a deal, you know me.’
Before, he felt a part of the lyrics, when we were hitting everyone else head on. Now we were colliding.”
The latest single from the pop-punk group, “The Only Exception”, is doing particularly well in the US, although on Friday 5 November it became the target of a new lawsuit.
Florida-based indie outfit the Tenspoke Indies are suing the group for copyright over the tune, as well as the group’s parent label, Warner Music. “It’s clear that these songs sound nothing alike and that there is absolutely no merit to this lawsuit. We will fight this vigorously,” read a joint statement by Warner subsidiary Fueled By Ramen, Atlantic Records and Paramore’s management. Paramore are currently on tour in the UK.
