Petals for Armor

Petals for Armor is the debut solo studio album by American singer-songwriter Hayley Williams. It was released on May 8, 2020, by Atlantic Records. The album was preceded by two extended plays (EPs), Petals for Armor I and Petals for Armor II, which make up the album's first ten songs.

Williams explained the inspiration behind the title of the album is due to her belief that "the best way for me to protect myself is to be vulnerable." The album was produced by Williams' Paramore bandmate Taylor York and was written throughout 2019 during Paramore's hiatus after touring in support of their fifth studio album, After Laughter (2017).

The album was supported by its lead single, "Simmer", which was released in January 2020, accompanied with its music video. In an interview with BBC Radio, Williams confirmed that she was to embark on a tour in support of Petals for Armor following its release. The tour was originally planned for the Summer of 2020 but was postponed and subsequently canceled in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Background
Following extensive touring in support of Paramore's fifth studio album After Laughter (2017), Hayley Williams expressed her feelings about the group's future moving forward explaining that they were not breaking up, however needed time away from writing and touring. In an interview with BBC Radio, in January 2020, Williams explained her process behind developing the album.

"“I'm so ready and so incredibly humbled to get to share this project... Making it was a scary, empowering experience. Some of my proudest moments as a lyricist happened while writing ‘PETALS FOR ARMOR.’ And I was able to get my hands a little dirtier than usual when it came to instrumentation. I'm in a band with my favorite musicians so I never really feel the need to step into a role as a player when it comes to Paramore records. This project, however, benefited from a little bit of musical naïveté and rawness and so I experimented quite a bit more. I made this with some of the closest people to me. Their respective talents really shine bright throughout the record. I like to think we all make each other better and the result is something that sounds and FEELS exactly as I'd hoped it would. Now that it's time to put it all out there, I can finally exhale. I'm excited to let people in to experience a different side of myself that I’ve only very recently become familiar with.”"

Singles
In December 2019, Williams announced on her birthday that she would be releasing a "taste" of new solo music in January 2020. Williams revealed the song title on social media on January 20, 2020, after posting various teasers over the course of January which featured a "dark aesthetic", with one including a person running through the woods. On January 22, 2020, Hayley Williams released the lead single "Simmer", the song was written by Williams, Paramore touring musician Joseph Howard, and guitarist Taylor York.

The album's second single, "Dead Horse", was released on April 21, 2020. "'Dead Horse' offers strength back to a younger, weaker version of myself," Williams continues. "I feel like all of this needed to be said in order to embody the kind of woman I hope to be." The music video was released on May 8. It was directed by Zac Farro.

Singles for Petals for Armor I
"Leave It Alone" was released on January 30, 2020 by Atlantic Records for digital download and to streaming platforms and serves as the second single for Williams' debut solo EP, Petals for Armor I. The song was written by Williams and Joseph Howard and was produced by Taylor York. The music video for "Leave It Alone" was directed by Warren Fu and serves as a sequel to its predecessor "Simmer". It premiered on the same day as the single's release. Another music video, "Leave It Alone Interlude", premiered on February 3, 2020.

"Cinnamon" was released on February 6, 2020, as a third single from her Petals for Armor I project along with the EP's release. The music video for "Cinnamon" was directed by Warren Fu and serves as a sequel to its predecessor "Leave It Alone".

Singles for Petals for Armor II
"Roses/Lotus/Violet/Iris" was released on March 19, 2020, with an official lyric video. The song features indie rock band Boygenius, which consists of Julien Baker, Phoebe Bridgers, and Lucy Dacus, on background vocals. Williams said about the single in her Twitter account. "“In honor of my personal journey through femininity, with its endless facets; and in honor of the feminine wonder that connects literally everyone and everything.”" Williams also released the songs "Over Yet", "My Friend" and "Why We Ever".

Cancelled Tour
Planned to take place alongside the release of album, on March 5, 2020, Williams announced the European and North American legs of the Petals for Armor Tour, set to start in May 13 in Amsterdam, Netherlands and conclude on June 29, 2020, in Nashville, United States. The pre-sale started on March 13, 2020. It was announced that the support acts would be English R&B artist Arlo Parks on the North American leg and Scottish band the Ninth Wave in Europe. However, in August 2020 Williams announced that the tour was already cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic and that there were "no immediate plans to schedule new dates".

Critical reception
Petals for Armor was met with critical acclaim. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from professional publications, the album received an average score of 83, based on 22 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim". Aggregator AnyDecentMusic? gave it 8.1 out of 10, based on their assessment of the critical consensus.

Credits and personnel
Credits adapted from liner notes.

Musicians
 * Hayley Williams – vocals; guitar (tracks: 1, 3, and 4); keyboards (tracks: 1, 3, 4, 7, 8, 10–13, and 15); drums (track: 3)
 * Aaron Steele – drums (tracks: 1–12); programming (track: 1); congas (tracks: 2, 9, and 11); percussion (tracks: 2 and 9)
 * Joey Howard – bass (tracks: 1–12, and 15); keyboards (tracks: 1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 9, 11, and 12); percussion (track: 2); guitar (track: 4); programming (tracks: 5 and 7)
 * Taylor York – additional instrumentation (all tracks)
 * Daniel James – string arrangements (tracks: 2 and 9)
 * Benjamin Kaufman – violin (tracks: 2 and 9); chin cello (tracks: 2 and 9)
 * Steph Marziano – keyboards (tracks: 4 and 8); programming (tracks: 4 and 8)
 * Mike Weiss – guitar (track: 4)
 * Julien Baker – background vocals (track: 9)
 * Phoebe Bridgers – background vocals (track: 9)
 * Lucy Dacus – background vocals (track: 9)
 * Zac Farro - drums (tracks: 14 and 15)
 * Brian Robert Jones – bass (track: 14)
 * Rusty Williams – vocals (track: 15); piano (track: 15)


 * Producers and engineers
 * Taylor York – production
 * Carlos de la Garza – mixing, engineering, additional production (tracks: 8, 11, 12, 14, and 15)
 * Dave Cooley – mastering
 * Michael Craver – mixing assistance, studio assistance
 * David Fitzgibbons – mixing assistance, studio assistance
 * Kevin Boettger – studio assistance
 * Michelle Freetly – studio assistance
 * Jake Butler – studio assistance
 * Steph Marziano – additional production (tracks: 4 and 8)
 * Daniel James – additional production (tracks: 4–6, 8, 9, and 14)
 * Joey Howard – additional production (track: 7)
 * Micah Tawlks – additional production (track: 10); engineering (track: 10)

Artwork
 * Lindsey Byrnes – creative direction, photography
 * Alex Mata – design, layout

Petals for Armor: Self-Serenades
Petals for Armor: Self-Serenades is an extended play (EP) containing acoustic versions of two songs from Petals for Armor, and one new song. It was released on Atlantic Records on December 18, 2020.

A studio version of "Find Me Here" appears as the twelfth track on Williams' second album, Flowers for Vases / Descansos.

Background
The EP was entirely a home recording on a 4-track recorder. Williams played alone on the EP, with Williams on vocals and acoustic guitar. Williams cites "Find Me Here" as one of her favorite songs she wrote in 2020.

Credits and personnel
Credits adapted from liner notes.

Musicians
 * Hayley Williams – primary artist, vocals, acoustic guitar

Additional personnel
 * Daniel James – production, mixing, engineering
 * Dave Cooley – mastering