Paramore Return With 'Hard Times' Video, Reveal New Album

The Paramore return takes on real, electric substance today with an album title, After Laughter, plus its tracklist and release date, May 12. There's also a potent new single and vibrant music video, "Hard Times," which opens the upcoming album. Watch above as Paramore stir up a mix of '80s aesthetics and Tumblr-bred, streaky, pixelized animation.

One could reasonably assume "Hard Times" is about the state of the world in 2017, with lines begging for reassurance, pondering why we even try, and the relative benefits of hiding in a hole in the ground till this shit is over. But lines like "Walking around with my little raincloud / Hanging over my head, and it ain’t coming down" and "Hit me with lightning / Maybe I’ll come alive" also mirror the era-agnostic experience of depression, a topic Hayley Williams has discussed with fans and press. (Update: And did again, today, with the New York Times.)