When we were 15 we were having sleepovers, revising for exams, and eating a lot of junk food. Hayley Williams on the other hand was putting together a band and writing the music we’d be throwing our hands in the air to in just a few short years. Doesn’t it make you just the tiniest bit jealous?

Green eyes aside, the band Paramore have been somewhat of a phenomenon, speaking to teens, pop-lovers, alt-fans and wannabe-punks across the world since they exploded onto the scene with All We Know is Falling in 2004. They were the answer to many a youth’s yearning for something more than the bubble-gum, manufactured pop of the early noughties. For us, in leadsinger Hayley Williams, we found an alternative style icon we didn’t know we even needed.

From her metallic orange hair to fitted t-shirts and Dr Martens, us Topshop girls have a serious soft spot for Hayley Williams’ under-done punk-inspired look. (Did we mention she’s wearing a much-loved Dweeb t-shirt from Topshop in her video for Still Into You?) This lady’s locks alone have influenced millions of fluorescent tresses and even inspired a standout copper and coral make-up range for MAC.

Style aside, Hayley and the boys have championed their own brand of emo-pop perfectly. After three albums, a very public band shake-up and all still in their early 20s, Paramore are back with a record Hayley describes as, “needing to find whatever’s next.” Undoubtedly the pressure is on for their first foray as a threesome but we’re equally not surprised to find the album an all around good ‘un. Most surprisingly is how much brighter it is; brimming with energy, high-octane melodies and  a lot less of that teenage angst and a little more sweetness than what’s come before. Fear not, it’s a far cry from the saccharine teeny-boppers out there but some of our favourite moments have come from Hayley’s new opportunities to flex her vocal cords – an emotional Hate to See Your Heart Break and a very soulful Ain’t It Fun - are our top tracks to hear Hayley rock the mic.

We spoke to the  busiest women in the music biz — as she tours across the states – to get the low down on writing a new album in a very new way, what she’s listening to and being a t-shirt and jeans girl.

How did the band’s new make-up alter the album making experience?

Everything with us works differently now. The writing process was the most insane head trip. Taylor stepped up into a primary writing role and I’ve been wondering why we ever waited so long to start writing songs together. He is a mad scientist when it comes to composing music and experimenting with sounds. It was all very new and it made the writing and recording process the most fun we’ve ever had creating for Paramore. Continue Reading

The first time Tennessee pop-rockers Paramore headlined a tour, they started it at Beat Kitchen in 2006. Seven years later, the band will play the much larger Chicago Theatre on Thursday as part of its first U.S. tour since 2010. Paramore then and Paramore now, singer Hayley Williams says, are like night and day.

“I don’t want it to sound like I’m ever bashing the band that we were before, but I definitely feel like we are a new band now,” says Williams, 24. Paramore’s two founding members, brothers Josh and Zac Farro, departed about a year-and-a-half after the band’s last album, “Brand New Eyes,” debuted at No. 2 in 2009.

“Now when the guys and I are hanging out, we’re just friends,” Williams says. “We really are friends and we know the difference between working together and having a friendship together, whereas before I think we let business really take over our friendship and we weren’t good friends to each other … It feels healthy.”

The proof is in the pudding as Paramore’s new, continually catchy self-titled album (which debuted at No. 1) often focuses on looking forward and moving on, compared to the previous record’s disbelief that the band even existed anymore. By phone from L.A. before appearing on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!,” Williams talked about how a ukulele can change an attitude, when she felt ready to put the past behind and her male bandmates’ willingness to accommodate her fondness for the Spice Girls.

Paramore, 8 p.m. May 9 at Chicago Theatre. $38.50-$49.50.

I know the interludes on which you sing with a ukulele were an important part of putting together the new album, helping you get through writers’ block and not feel like the songs were coming out so bitter or angry. Why did a ukulele make that happen? Because it puts anyone in a good mood?
[Laughs.] Yeah, I think it is really that simple. We needed those interludes to get through … we had writers’ block for the last two or three weeks, and it just was super depressing. There’s something about ukulele which is just really happy, and it took the pressure off of us to write serious songs or write rock songs or whatever we thought we needed to do within the moment … We were able to look at our lives in the moment with more a sense of humor and be sarcastic about the things we didn’t like and be psyched and laugh about the things that we did love. Continue Reading

This may seem an odd time to go with a self-titled Paramore album. After all, it is their first release since founding members and primary songwriters Zac and Josh Farro left the fold in late 2010. And stylistically speaking, this one features more departures from the sound their fans have come to know and love than any previous release.

But as guitarist Taylor York explains, when singer Hayley Williams suggested the title, it just felt right, acknowledging the fact that what the alternative-radio hitmakers are doing now feels more like working toward a common goal as bandmates than it ever has for Williams, York and bass player Jeremy Davis.

Here’s York, who checked in from the road to share his thoughts on all things Paramore.

Question: One of the cooler things about this album is how stylistically diverse it is. Was that intentional or is that just the way the songs turned out?

Answer: It’s honestly just the way the songs turned out. On our last three full-lengths, we had evolved, but they were also stylistically similar. So we felt like we’ve kind of developed a fan base through that style and we thought, “Well, all right, let’s keep it going.” Continue Reading