Hayley Williams Released New Music And The Artwork Is All About Community

On August 1, Hayley Williams dropped 17 new songs on streaming platforms. Fans were speculating an album, but the release consists of separate singles, each with their own identity.

Earlier in the week, the Paramore singer’s hair dye brand, Good Dye Young, released exclusive shade Ego, a bright marigold yellow hue limited to 2,000 units. Cartons were signed by Williams and her co-founder, celebrity hair stylist Brian O’Connor.

However, beyond the hair dye came Williams’ latest musical venture — over a dozen new songs. On July 28, Good Dye Young emailed codes to customers to be entered on the singer’s website. Behind the code, all 17 songs were available in a retro Y2K-style webpage with draggable MP3 files.

Rather than granting single-use access, fans were encouraged to share the codes and spread the word far and wide. After all, just over a day later, the files disappeared from the site.

“The visual components to this project have been some of the most rewarding teamwork of my career,” Williams wrote in an Instagram story posted on August 2. “All Nashville cats, who I am lucky to call my community.”

Single covers were shot by photographer Zachary Gray and illustrations were designed by Jordan Short, founder and brand strategist of creative design agency Luum Studio. Williams’ manager, Leah Hodgkiss, was also a crucial part of the project, distilling ideas and and helping the wider team stay on task.

In spring, Short received a call from Williams’ team who asked him to collaborate on the singer’s upcoming releases. It wasn’t the first time the long-time friends have worked together — Short also worked with Williams on the strategy and rebranding of Good Dye Young.

“Hayley always comes to the table with ideas kind of like stars in the sky,” Short said. “She, as you would guess, has very good taste, but sometimes it’s a matter of looking at all the inspiration and figuring out a through line, right? It’s a collaborative effort, finding that constellation in her ideas. Once we do, we’re able to craft an immersive world around it, with little moments of surprise and delight,”

Short explained that Williams responds well to editorialized ideas and, after she came to him with a folder of imagery, they began working on the mood board for the singles.

“One of the themes that came through both in Hayley’s initial photo inspiration and my mood board creation was a very strong DIY aesthetic,” Short said. “Both Hayley and I grew up in like the DIY emo music scene, and that ethos is such a strong thing that we both believe in. So when I saw some of those themes, I was like, that’s it. Like let’s lean into that,”

After learning that the music release would coincide with a Good Dye Young hair color release, Short knew that color would also have to be a prominent feature in the single artwork, with a nod to the vibrant marigold shade that the hair color company would be releasing around the same time. He and Williams were inspired by vintage punk rock zine and the vision for the artwork was an analog aesthetic.

“Everything that you see, like that textured, tactile feeling of the single art is all real. There’s no Photoshop fakery or filters on it,” Short explained. “That was really important to carry this analog approach from conception to creation,”

According to Short, Williams gave him free reign to “marinate in the songs and the lyrics” and conceptualize illustrations to serve as an overlay atop of Gray’s imagery.

The project, which had no promotional materials in the lead up to the release, has been incredibly well received by fans. Social media users have put their own spin on the artwork, transforming their display pictures into a black-and-white image that features Short’s illustrations as an overlay.

“It has made my heart so happy because that to me is the dream of any creator,” Short said with a smile. “And a lot of creators never get that moment where they release something and then the world makes it their own and takes it upon themselves to do versions and create alternative visuals.”

Since the initial release, listeners have added another layer to the music, forming their own ideas of what the illustrations mean and which lyric they relate to. It’s an extra step they are taking to truly immerse themselves in the sounds and sights of the singles.

And at its heart, Williams’ latest project is about community. From the early concepts to the reaction from fans, the singles release was a collaborative venture that shows true artistry in many forms.