Hayley Williams – “Roses/Lotus/Violet/Iris” (Feat. Boygenius)

Lindsey Byrnes

Hayley Williams – “Roses/Lotus/Violet/Iris” (Feat. Boygenius)

Lindsey Byrnes

Soon, Paramore leader Hayley Williams will let her first-ever solo album Petals For Armor. She has already shared a whopping five tracks from the LP. Today, she shares a sixth, and it’s easily the most anticipated song on the album. A couple of months ago, in a New York Times profile, Williams mentioned that all three members of the great supergroup boygenius — Julien Baker, Phoebe Bridgers, and Lucy Dacus — sang backup on one of her songs. Today, we get to hear that song.

Baker, Bridgers, and Dacus all sing on “Roses/Lotus/Violet/Iris,” the new single that Williams has shared today. It’s the first time we’ve heard all three members of boygenius together since they finished touring behind their truly great 2018 EP. But this isn’t a boygenius song with Williams on it; it’s the opposite. “Roses/Lotus/Violet/Iris” is a skittering, personal pop song, and it sounds a whole lot like the other solo songs that Williams has released. Like most of those songs, it’s really good, too. It carries serious 1996 modern-rock-radio vibes. And those harmonies really are something.

Williams co-wrote “Roses/Lotus/Violet/Iris” with her Paramore bandmate Taylor York, who produced Petals For Armor, and with pop songwriter and producer Daniel James. It has some seriously busy strings, and the bridge goes hard. Listen to it below.

Petals For Armor is out 5/8 on Atlantic.

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