Hayley Williams stripped down SZA’s “Drew Barrymore” for an acoustic Instagram cover.
The Paramore singer adopted a smooth croon with subtle vibrato, switching between gentle fingerpicking and strums. She took a self-deprecating attitude toward the performance, muttering, “Whatever” at the end and captioning the video “self-serenades / amateur hour.”
“this was weeks ago,” she wrote of the cover. “April 11th, to be exact. have a few saved up. guess i’ve been holding out on yall. the only constant for me (besides limp ass, unwashed, unfixed hair) in the age of covid, is a guitar and free reign to mess up all my favorite songs. here’s ‘Drew Barrymore’ by queen @sza. please ignore my face.”
Williams released her debut solo LP, Petals for Armor, in early May. The album — which follows Paramore’s 2017 record, After Laughter — features “Why We Ever,” “Over Yet,” “My Friend,” Boygenius collaboration “Roses/Lotus/Violet/Iris” and recent single “Dead Horse,” which she paired with a video directed by Paramore bandmate Zac Farro.
In an Instagram statement accompanying “Why We Ever,” Williams detailed the mindset and creative process that catalyzed the song.
“In Dec 2018, I bought Pro Tools, an interface, and some speakers and decided to learn something new. These moments are from my first go at it (we’re talking out of time/phase/tune… etc!…).”
She continued, “I was at the lowest point I’d been in some time. My sadness shows. Now I look back and credit this night as being the beginning of a new season of my life, where I hold myself accountable for learning to love better. I’ve let myself down a lot in love. This was the start of recognizing my bad patterns and acknowledging that I’m ready to grow out of them.”
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