Paramore’s fiery-haired frontwoman, Hayley Williams, is a force to be reckoned with. When she was only 16 years old, Paramore released their debut album, All We Know Is Falling—and then followed it up with two platinum and gold-certified records, respectively. But in December 2010, when two of Paramore’s longtime members announced that they would be leaving, Williams found herself in the midst of a media whirlwind, following their accusations that the band had been “manufactured.” 

Now, Williams sees the difficult journey that the band went through as a necessary evil to get to their self-titled fourth album. “We’re a different band this time around,” Williams explains. “It’s not all a bunch of angry songs and being bitter about something that somebody did to me. It’s so much more personal. Fans will really be able to dive a lot deeper into who we are on this album.”

ELLE.com recently caught up with Williams to talk all things Paramore, her flame-hued hair, and, of course, her new four-piece collection for M.A.C., available April 9.

On the band’s new album, also out April 9: ”The album is about who we were and who we were becoming over the last two years. There are a lot of songs about growing up and moving on from something that was difficult and just pressing forward. Musically, we tried everything—different sounds and genres and explorations—and what was cool about it was that nothing ever felt forced. It’s kind of all over the place. But, I feel like, as a person, I’m pretty all over the place. So, maybe it’s just a good representation of me and the guys.”

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Melodic guitar riffs, bold, sing-a-long choruses and a stadium shaking heaviness; the Paramore blend of emo-pop is a big deal.

Fronted by the imitable orange-haired front woman Hayley Williams, third album Brand New Eyes topped charts around the globe and won multiple accolades (all listed on the wikipedia page dedicated solely to their many, many awards and nominations).

2013 sees the band return four years later with a new self-titled record and fourth album.

Their first record as a trio following the departure of Josh and Zac Farro, ‘Paramore’ is surrounded by an impassioned sense of vigor, led boldly by the mantra of its first single, “If there is a future, we want it Now.”

Meeting the band for a lengthy chat, we spoke about how the record came together, the meaning behind its lyrics, their advice for young bands and what Hayley would say to her teenage self.

ILM: Hello Paramore. How are you?

Jeremy: Good. So good! It all feels real now. It feels like we’ve been doing all this preparation and this work and we’re excited to actually start!

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I’ll just come out and say it: I’m just a tiny bit obsessed with Paramore’s lead singer Hayley Williams – which, if you’ve ever so much as heard her voice, is totally understandable. I’ve wanted to pick her brain for years, to find out a bit more about what makes her tick and inspires her to write such intensely energetic, sometimes incredibly heartbreaking and always amazing songs along with her bandmates Taylor York and Jeremy Davis, but it seemed like a total pipe dream, especially during the group’s hiatus following the completion of the promotion of their Brand New Eyes album a few years back.

In any case, I finally got my chance last week, when Hayley and I threw on our cosiest sweatpants and had a nice long phone chat about music, her new collaboration with MAC and everything in between. What I found was a woman who is confident, down-to-earth and incredibly grateful for what she has achieved and the change it allows her to affect on her many fans. I can’t say enough wonderful things about her – she deserves every bit of goodness that comes her way.

The music on the new, self-titled record seems really joyful, especially in comparison to Brand New Eyes, which was absolutely gorgeous but still a really heavy album – was that a natural progression or a conscious departure?

“It’s totally a thing that just happened, but at the same time, I really wanted to focus on not just, I don’t know, harping on the same old thing. Brand New Eyes was a really hard record for me to write lyrically and I was not into repeating history. It was really just a fun album to make, so I’m psyched that you feel that. That’s how it felt recording it!”

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This week, Paramore is busy gearing up to play a handful of shows at indie-music paradise South by Southwest—their first time performing at the fest since 2008—but Hayley Williams took time away from promoting their upcoming album to talk about leaving Nashville for Los Angeles, finding a signature style, and growing up—musically and personally.

How does your new album compare to the others?
“It’s different in every possible way, which at first was a little concerning for us. Then we realized that it’s so important to grow as a band and as people. It’s been a year since we started this whole journey and everything has fallen where it’s supposed to fall. It’s the first album I’ve listened to by us that I feel like we’ve sound like we’ve grown up a lot. Now I really know what it means to grow up as a band.”

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Paramore’s leading lady, Hayley Williams, has a beauty look as bold as her band’s big hits. Throwing fans plenty of hair flair inspiration WAY before other celebs tried crazy colours, she’s been our poster girl for bright beauty for yonks. Today we can reveal Hayley’s inspired an online-exclusive collection with M•A•C and to celebrate she speaks to Cosmo about her stand-out style.

We’re VERY excited to hear you’re collaborating with M?A?C – how did this come about?
Honestly, I don’t even know. I feel like I hit the makeup lottery! When I got the call that they might be interested, I didn’t bat an eye.

What is your favourite element of the collection?
Makeup is a personal thing. It’s self expression. I’m not even all that good at it and I still have a look that says something about me. This collection is that… Orange is just my thing.

What’s your favourite ever M.A.C product?
Well, the first thing I ever spent my money on was a M?A?C shadow in straight-up “Orange”. However, my all time favourite product is the “Lightscapade” Mineralized Skinfinish. Lucky for me, M?A?C added it to my collection ‘cause I was devastated that it had been discontinued before!

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