It's hard to know for certain, considering Williams' connections, but I think the evolution of their sound can be easily explained by a growing obsession with Talking Heads.

I wouldnt be surprised if this is true for Riot. They were by some accounts a band manufactured by a label. It seams they escaped after Riot. At this point I'm sure it's just the three of the.

Not sure about the Talking Heads being such a big influence

I just wonder as the would surely be in demand for other artists if that was the case, and the two guys don’t seem to be really prolific or have side projects. Not that it matters, their albums are great and really enjoyable, love Hayley too but I just wondered. Looking forward to the album

New album is solid. Short and sweet. Aside from the singles, I'm digging "You First" > "Figure 8", which also happen to be on the more up tempo side. But there are no clunkers here.

yeah rad album

Figure 8 outstanding reminds of Fleetwood Mack. All song are very good. Lots of different vibes. Liar is brilliant. Running Out of Time feels like a big hit.

Thick Skull is the best song here imo

Way too early for me to have a favorite or pick a best song. But after one listen, I'm certain I'll be spinning this one a lot in the coming months.

Nothing jumped out as bad or even meh. Solid all the way through.

yep! really good album, and very cohesive in terms of sound palette / aesthetic (something I haven't always felt about past work)

Funny it builds nicely and really shines by the end,but it takes so long to get there. It's the one song I'm not feeling. It's fine I just enjoy every other song more. So the fact it is your favorite tells me it is gonna grow on me. So that's a plus for me Liar is probably the best thing on this but I know I will not seek it out much. This album has no skips for me. It does flow in such good way. Taylor and Zac have leveled up for sure.

Great album. It's really nice to hear some new music that I really like. I'm old.

the BVs "She's always running out of time!" are pretty funny, they remind me of Motown / Rock n Roll, where it was quite common for the backing vocalists to talk about the lead singer in 3rd person (I wish I could think of a song example)

in terms of tempo and the way it builds like a wave crashing, it reminds me of My Hero by Foo Fighters; lots of space for the drummer to go ham (and Zac does by the end)

Spent some time with this song and Crave they are both much better then I thought. I think this speaks to how overwhelmed I was by Liar and the album in general. The 8 song before the last two were so good that my ears had no ability to process more information. Thick Skull iscomplex in a Radio Head way which is a bit startling coming from Paramore. I thought this was a almost perfect album only missing that uplifting moment it begged for. I was wrong it just came in the last few moments.

Melon really liked it (~8.5/10)

I know his reviews can be very hit or miss, but I figure why not share in the positivity?

yeah he was pretty fair, bless

at this point my only gripe is that the 3 "funky" tracks

This is Why
Running Out of Time
Cest Comme Ça

are really close together in the first half; I feel like that "vibe" could be spread out a bit more

having said that I really like that there are essentially two 5 track eps here: ep 1 is "fun", upbeat and groovy, ep 2 is a bit deeper / rockier / more complex lyrically

it's a really good album that definitely respects what post-punk and new wave were and are; it's what Backspacer should've been

Crazy about the Backspacer reference, I was thinking somewhat similar. Specifically how Taylor's colors and textures would work well on the first four songs of Backspacer. Although I appreciate that Backspacer doesn't take itself seriously This is Why takes its self seriously.