After a four year hiatus, Paramore released its long awaited album, “After Laughter.” With this new album came a new band lineup as well. After losing bassist Jeremy Davis and reintroducing drummer Zac Farro, the shift in sound is apparent.

“After Laughter” is an album where the emo Paramore and new pop Paramore collide. It relays emo messages under the guise of upbeat rhythms, which makes the music fun and the lyrics meaningful at the same time.

Throughout the album, lead singer Hayley Williams conveys the intensity and profundity of anxiety and depression and the exhaustion that stems from them.

The gloominess of the music and lyrics grows as the album progresses; it transitions from a cheery beat in “Hard Times” to a more mellow sound after “26.”

Particularly in the song “Idle Worship,” Williams sings about one’s personal expectations and how one’s image looks to another, reaching a higher level of dysphoria compared to the previous songs on the album.

In the last song on the record, “Tell Me How,” Williams’ voice is a much more soft and melodic tone coupled with the piano and Taylor York playing the guitar and Farro’s drums. As she sings, “I know you think that I erased you. I know you hate me but I can’t hate you,” listeners can hear the pain in Williams’ voice.

Despite “After Laughter” having its own individuality, it wasn’t as good as the band’s self-titled album in which they portrayed themselves the best. Their self-titled album was more punk rock that focused on everything from the uncertainty of the future to love and being against conformity.

“After Laughter” is an album about survival, however, it explores a different perspective of it. Rather than broadcasting the usual fake positive message most are used to hearing, Paramore creates honest lyrics and a raw sound, showing the reality of the toll survival has.