Hayley Williams combines vulnerability and bravery on ‘PETALS FOR ARMOR I,’ the first part of a larger project

Hayley Williams has always been a force to be reckoned within the music world. You can’t just be the leading force of a band, of a pillar of the mid-00’s emo boom, like Paramore, go back to the drawing board not just once but twice, and not come out feeling like you’ve always been holding on to some kind of special power. Yet for all the praise and invincible status we’ve attached to Hayley Williams the musician, it has become rather easy to sidestep the sensitive territory of Hayley Williams as a person, as well as everything that involves spending time in order to better understand her as this everyday, normal, not-at-all-invincible human being.

For Your Consideration: Ezra Furman’s Twelve Nudes as Multifaceted Depiction of What It’s Like to Be Trans

This piece was originally published as part of the Indieheads forums’ annual Album of the Year write-up series, where users write about their favorite albums from the year that passed, on December 14, 2019. In this piece, Co-Editor Nat talks about their personal link to local Boston-area musician Ezra Furman‘s thunderous Twelve Nudes and how it resonated with her experience living as a nonbinary transgender person.

PHOTOS + REVIEW: Devon Welsh sings sparsely powerful songs about “True Love” at Lilypad Inman, with Abandon and St. Nothing (11/10/19)

While audience members chuckled softly over Devon Welsh’s preamble to his set — where he took his time with expressing that what he was about to say was his “greatest desire” to eventually arrive at saying this desire was for the audience to arrange tables they sat on into a semicircle and sit in the space between them — what the request seemed to actually express was Welsh’s very real desire to have performance space become a form of quiet emotional intimacy.

ALBUM REVIEW: Le Butcherettes deliver anthemic punk on the dualism of struggle and strength on “bi/MENTAL”

The moment it all clicks into place for me comes midway through the album, on a track called “in/THE END.” This, itself, is an irony onto itself, putting a song with that title smack into the middle of the tracklisting. But the real moment of truth, during my second full listen of the album, happens as the song transitions from its modest opening stretches — a filtered harmonization, between two voices made to sound somewhat childlike, backed by soft distorted guitar and light keyboard, already an anomaly among the album’s guitar-heavy slant backed by deep synths — into a boldly expansive mid-tempo rock ballad. It’s unexpected, but fits in entirely with what Le Butcherettes do as a whole on bi/MENTAL.

For Your Consideration: Young Fathers’ Cocoa Sugar as 2018’s Soundtrack of Mournful Rage

For Odd Blue Fruit’s “End of the Year” coverage, our writers will discuss in detail albums that meant a great deal to them in 2018 along with their “best of” lists. In this write-up, Co-Editor Nat Allais discusses Young Fathers’ incredible latest album Cocoa Sugar, its place in the band’s career, and how the album fits into 2018 at large.

PHOTOS + REVIEW: Ezra Furman brings “a night of pain and a night of celebration” to The Sinclair, with support from OMNI

Coming to the stage smiling and waving while holding an orange he would later peel onstage, Ezra Furman took his position behind the mic at the center as the lighting shifted, the dim fill lighting changing to sheer spotlights illuminating the whole stage for the entirety of the set. As Ezra first addressed the crowd after his band propelled into a killer opening 1-2 of “Cherry Lane” and “I Wanna Destroy Myself,” the meaning behind this lighting design became exceedingly clear: in times shrouded by darkness, Furman aims for his show to be a beacon of light.

PHOTOS + REVIEW: Slothrust, joined by MANNEQUIN PUSSY, bring fantastic vibes to The Sinclair (11/10/18)

Allow me to start off-subject if you will. One of my favorite performances of Arctic Monkeys’ “Mardy Bum” that I can never rewatch enough times is the rendition they played at 2006’s Reading Festival. Only a couple of notes in, it is easy to see why. Although perhaps nervous, the band looks quite happy to be there, and the crowd even more so, judging by the fact that they sing along to pretty much every part of the song, and they do so with ardent splendor. And as I stood amongst the crowd for Slothrust’s Saturday night set at The Sinclair, hearing the band play “Like a Child Hiding Behind Your Tombstone” from 2016’s Everyone Else, smiles and all from frontwoman Leah Wellbaum in-between the song’s major moments, the crowd responding with unbridled joy, I find it hard not to find parallels between these two beautiful performances, for this beauty was part of a night of live music that was as every bit welcoming as it was bustling.

CONCERT REVIEW: The Joy Formidable calm nerves and have a good time at The Sinclair (11/6/18)

During opening band Tancred’s set, there was a moment in-between songs that, without wanting to get too political, summarized the general mood of both the audience and the show. Tancred remarked that the crowd seemed “inattentive,” and asked if it was either because it was a Tuesday, or because everyone had voted. The audience gave no definite response, but front woman Jess Abbott, and the band as a whole really, took it all in good spirit. Whatever the crowd’s disposition happened to be was not something the band was going to let dampen their set. Election results be damned, Tancred were there to kick off a night of good music, and that was exactly what they did in the time they were onstage. Their setlist comprised mostly of songs from their latest album, Nightstand, and their blend of power pop, indie rock tuneage served as the perfect compliment to The Joy Formidable. I had the privilege of seeing Tancred open for Julien Baker when she came to Providence earlier this year, and and just like the warm reception they received for that gig, there was enthusiasm abound for the four-piece.

CONCERT REVIEW: Deafheaven made a welcome return to Fête Music Hall (11/2/18)

Although I had the chance to see Deafheaven take command of Boston’s Royale earlier in July, I went into Friday night’s double-header concert of Deafheaven and DIIV with what I could only describe as a surge of uncontained excitement. After all, Fete Music Hall was where I first got to see Deafheaven unleash beautifully contained havoc upon the audience. There was George Clarke’s trademark screams and snarls; there was a heck of a lot of moshing and crowd surfing; and there was one of my favorite bands in top form, touring behind and riding on the waves of success of my favorite album from that cycle. It was a blissful experience, and it was as every bit as blissful at this most recent outing.