''Flowers for Vases / Descansos'' (stylized as ''FLOWERS for VASES / descansos'') is the second studio album by American singer-songwriter and

Paramore Paramore is an American rock band from Franklin, Tennessee, formed in 2004. The band currently consists of lead vocalist Hayley Williams, guitarist Taylor York and drummer Zac Farro. Williams and Farro are founding members of the group, whil ...

frontwoman

Hayley Williams Hayley Nichole Williams (born December 27, 1988) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and businesswoman who is best known as the lead vocalist, primary songwriter, and keyboardist of the rock band Paramore. Born and raised in Missi ...

. It was released without prior announcement through

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over its first 20 years of operation, Atlantic earned a reputation as one of the most i ...

on February 5, 2021, nine months after its predecessor '' Petals for Armor'' (2020), and two months after the extended play '' Petals for Armor: Self-Serenades'' (2020). Departing from the art pop sound of the singer's previous material, ''Flowers for Vases'' is an intimate folk album with sparse guitars, piano chords, and spare drums.

Background

After the release of '' Petals for Armor: Self-Serenades'' in December 2020, which includes a demo for "Find Me Here", Williams's website started redirecting to the ''Flowers for Vases'' webpage playing 15-second demo tracks of the project songs on January 22, 2021. On January 29, she started sending gifts to fans, including body parts of a doll with the note "Plant Me", and a special package including a Sanctuary candle and a CD with "My Limb", asking for fans to leak the song. Williams stated that the album is her own equivalent of Taylor Swift's '' Folklore'' (2020). On February 4, Williams announced ''Flowers for Vases / Descansos'' via social media a day before its release, including the album's credits, also explaining that the album serves as a prequel or "detour" from her first studio album '' Petals for Armor''.

Critical reception

''Flowers for Vases / Descansos'' was met with positive reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized score out of 100 to ratings from publications, the album received an average score of 79 based on 15 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

Track listing

All songs were written by Hayley Williams and produced by Daniel James.

Personnel

– all instruments, all vocals, writer * Daniel James –

producer Producer or producers may refer to: Occupations *Producer (agriculture), a farm operator *A stakeholder of economic production *Film producer, supervises the making of films **Executive producer, contributes to a film's budget and usually does not ...

, engineer *

Carlos de la Garza Captain Carlos de la Garza (1807–1882), also known as "Don Carlos," was a fourth generation Tejano rancher and entrepreneur in Goliad, Victoria and Refugio counties of Texas. His participation in the Mexican Army leading to the Battle of Coleto ...

– mixing *

Heba Kadry Heba Kadry is an Egyptian mastering engineer who currently resides in Brooklyn, New York. She is best known for her work with Bjork, Beach House, Slowdive, The Mars Volta, Neon Indian, Wooden Shjips, Lightning Bolt, White Hills, Alex G, Future ...

– mastering * Denyse Tontz – mix engineering assistant * Lindsey Byrnes – creative direction, photography

Charts

References

{{Authority control 2021 albums Hayley Williams albums Atlantic Records albums Surprise albums Albums recorded in a home studio Folk albums by American artists