Paramore's Listening Party Recap: 'There's A Time And A Place To Die, But This Ain't It'

Last Tuesday night (26th Feb) I was lucky enough to be one of about 20 people to hear 5 brand new songs from Paramore’s unreleased album! It was all very official and we weren’t allowed cameras or phones and they had to use a metal detector type thing on us before we went in! We went into the studio and sat down and waited for Hayley, Taylor and Jeremy to come in. Finally they came in and sat down and just talked a little bit about how nervous they were to be showing us the songs but how stoked they were as well. Then they left to sit next door and we got to listen to the songs. We heard “Fast In My Car”, “Still Into You”, “Last Hope”, “Ain’t it Fun” and “Part II”. I will try my best to remember details about the songs but as you can imagine it went by so quickly and 5 songs is a lot to remember!

"Fast In My Car" - Was quite ‘poppy’ and upbeat. A really fun song that kinda sounded like friends jamming out together. I remember some really catchy guitar riffs in this one. Hayley has since released lyrics on paramoreband livejournal for this song:

We're driving fast in my car. We've got our Riot gear on but we just want to have fun. No, we're not looking for violence...Tonight we want to have fun.

 “Still Into You” - A love type song. Really fun and sweet! Lyrics ‘I should be over the butterflies but I’m still into you’ (these lyrics are not 100% correct but they're just vaguely what I remember hearing). I really loved this song. Hayley sang really sweet in it. Softer vocals if I remember correctly, but the song was still upbeat. It made me happy to listen to. I also remember her singing something along the lines of 'even though we sometimes fight, I'm still into you' (not those lyrics exactly but something of that kinda idea). They also said that this song was to be the next single and that a video clip will be filmed shortly. Not sure whether it will be released before or after the whole album though!

“Last Hope” - I don’t really remember a lot about this song which sucks because I know that I really loved it! I have a feeling that this one had an amazing start to it. I really nice guitar riff and a slow start before picking up to a faster pace.

“Ain’t it Fun” - Was wonderful. This is the song that the gospel choir were used on. Hayley had some amazing vocal runs/solos towards the end. The choir made it awesome. It fit so perfectly. This one was upbeat too. Hayley sang some really interesting melodies in this one as well.

“Part II” - There have been rumours about the fact that this song was a follow on from "Let The Flames Begin" off of RIOT! and they were TRUE! It is in fact a part two of "LTFB" and starts off with the lyrics “what a shame we all became such fragile broken things” (opening line of "LTFB"). Other lyrics included something about a “spark’ and if you recall from "LTFB" there were lyrics “a memory remains just a tiny spark”. You can definitely hear links between the two, both lyrically and musically but it is a whole new song. Towards the end there’s an instrumental and it leads into the "Monster" outro they’ve been playing at shows over the past year. As soon as I heard the drums start I knew it was coming and I got so excited! I sang along because I LOVE that outro and it just fit in so perfectly with the rest of the song. This song really struck a chord with me just because of it's direct relation to Let The Flames Begin. It's one of my favourite songs and is absolutely AMAZING live. It was one of the more heavy songs out of the ones we heard and it was so good.

When Hayley, Taylor and Jeremy came back into the room afterwards, one of the first things we said was "OMG PART II IS AMAZING!" and Hayley asked, "did you realise what song it was a continuation of?" and we all said "LET THE FLAMES BEGIN" at exactly the same time haha. They seemed pleased that we noticed it. We had a bit of question and answer time with the band and I got to ask a question. They were pretty strict with what we were allowed to ask so I just asked what made them choose JMJ to produce the album. Taylor answered, saying that they didn't really know what the album was going to sound like before they started or if they were even going to be able to write it. When they met JMJ something just clicked and it felt right. They liked that JMJ could see where he could take them as a band on their 4th album.

I think that “Part II” would have to be my favourite. Followed closely by “Still Into You” then “Last Hope”, “Ain’t it Fun” and “Fast in My Car”. They are so close together though it’s almost impossible for me to list them in order of my favourite! All I know is that they all sounded amazing. They had a different vibe and tone to them but they just felt so right. This version of Paramore is right. It’s meant to be. Not that the other version wasn’t good…but it’s nice to see that Hayley, Taylor and Jeremy have completely found who they are as Paramore. I finally got to meet my favourite band and give them a hug and ask them questions. It was all so lovely. They are my favourite band for a reason and that reason was proven tonight. They care so much about us as supporters of their music and it really shows. I'm so glad that they've powered through the past few years. The listening party was an incredible experience that I will never forget. It actually blows my mind to think that I was one of the first people to hear those songs. How much of a privilege is that?! I can’t even handle it. And I’m not even lying when I say that it was love at first listen. I wasn’t sure what this album was going to sound like but rest assured this album will be epic. The 5 songs I heard are all so diverse and fresh. All the elements of each song fit together so perfectly. You can hear the different things they’ve experimented with like synths and gospel choirs but it doesn’t sound at all like they’re just chucking that stuff in there to be “cool” or “original”. It honestly just fits in so well with the songs and enhances each of them. One of the songs… I’m pretty sure it was "Last Hope", started off with this rad guitar riff that reminded me of some of The Cure’s stuff. That slow but heavy kind of sound. I can’t explain it..but it sounded so damn good! Hayley has seemed to really branch out vocally as well. The melodies have a different vibe to them. I don’t know how else to explain it. It doesn’t sound like another particular band or anything -- it sounds like Paramore. This new and amazing version of Paramore. It really seemed like they completely and unashamedly poured their entire hearts into this album. Hayley even said that they really just let everything out and poured their hearts out for us to hear. You can really hear it in the songs too. I am so excited for what is to come in the future for Hayley, Taylor and Jeremy. I can already tell it is going to be far beyond amazing. I feel so inspired and in awe of Paramore even more so than before. I knew that they would come back fighting better than ever with this album. I just knew it. And they’ve proved me right. Paramore is and always will be my favourite band.

This photo was taken on the night of the listening party. I'm right next to Hayley in the turquoise velvet tights (which she said she loved!). Such an amazing night. All credit for this photo goes to Warner Music Australia.

This is me after the listening party :)

One more photo from inside the listening party. I was asking a question as this was taken. You can see me to the left, next to the girl in the white shirt. This photo was taken from Paramore's official Instagram!