Hayley Williams - Mirtazapine
The first solo offering from Hayley Williams in four years arrives as a genuine surprise—from its low-key radio premiere to its raw, evocative sonic and lyrical palette.
It’s been a full four years since the Paramore frontwoman last stepped out on her own. In 2020, Williams debuted Petals for Armor, a dive into art-pop territory threaded with glimmering synths and emotional excavation. A year later, without warning, she quietly released FLOWERS for VASES / descansos, her most stripped-down, folk-inflected work to date — a collection of hushed confessions and skeletal arrangements. Now, in 2025, it seems Williams is tentatively but unmistakably reigniting her solo career.
Her new track, “Mirtazapine”, follows the clandestine path set by FLOWERS for VASES / descansos: it debuted without fanfare on Nashville’s indie-leaning WNXP radio station. Lyrically, it feels like a spiritual sequel to Paramore’s 2023 album This Is Why — a poignant hymn to the antidepressant of the same name, which the artist credits with helping her sleep, eat, and most crucially, dream. Mental health has long been an undercurrent in Williams’ songwriting, but here it feels more nakedly autobiographical than ever. The track reads like an unflinching PSA for psychiatric medication, with Williams offering almost no metaphors — just unvarnished truth.
Still, it’s the music that makes “Mirtazapine” hit like a gut punch. Over a bed of distorted guitars and thunderous drums, Williams’ voice navigates between a weary murmur and a cathartic wail. At moments, she sounds like she’s on the verge of tears — until the song crests with an unhinged, almost primal scream. For fans who felt alienated by the more polished, experimental sounds of recent Paramore records, “Mirtazapine” might feel like a return to form. But more importantly, it feels like a declaration: Williams has never sounded more self-possessed, more fearless. If a full-length solo project in this vein is on the horizon, it could easily become one of the most essential entries in her already remarkable discography.
8.3/10
