Paramore’s Hayley Williams says the ‘Eras’ tour “completely changed” her relationship with ‘The Only Exception’

Paramore frontwoman Hayley Williams has explained how the ‘Eras’ tour “completely changed” her relationship with the band’s 2009 hit ‘The Only Exception’.

Taken from their third album ‘Brand New Eyes’, ‘The Only Exception’ is one of Paramore’s most well-known songs and is believed to have been written about Williams’ then-boyfriend Chad Gilbert. They married in 2016 and separated 16 months later.

In a new interview with Dork, Williams admitted to feeling a sense of discomfort performing it live in the past, but her vocal coach helped to alter her perception of it. He encouraged her to draw from her current relationship with Paramore guitarist Taylor York, who she confirmed she was dating in 2022.

“He said ‘You’re in a band with your partner. Just look at him and pretend nothing else ever existed’,” Williams recalled.

“You know what is so dumb about me? I felt so stupid doing that at first. I felt stupid having this pure expression of adoration and tapping into the hopefulness I had as a 19-year-old. This tour completely changed my relationship with it though. Now when I sing it, I feel happy.”

Elsewhere in the interview, Williams revealed that Paramore have begun working on new music.

Before they headed out on tour with Taylor Swift, they recorded some demos that “really surprised” her, with particular influence taken from the Bjork-fronted band The Sugarcubes.

They also spent time in Clouds Hill studio in Hamburg during their days off on tour and began toying with an idea that “felt like it was on the other side of the tracks to what we’d been working on at home,” according to Williams, who added: “But that excites me.”

She also added that there was potential for another solo record to follow up 2020’s ‘Petals For Armor’ and 2021’s ‘Flowers for Vases/Descansos’.

“Paramore has always been the thing that I want to do the most, and I get really passionate and protective of it,” Williams said. She did, however, have a shift in mind-set after seeing that releasing solo music didn’t affect the band’s operation. “I don’t feel done with that at all,” she said.

Meanwhile, Paramore recently teamed up with fashion designer Bug Girl for a merch collaboration to benefit Medical Aid for Palestinians.