For someone who has called Nashville their “home” for most of their professional life, Hayley Williams sure seems to have enough not-so-great things to say about the kind of people she’s surrounded by. It really makes you wonder why she still even lives there to begin with. Whether it’s a grim irony, a form of self-inflicted masochism, or a little bit of both, this doesn’t sound like a case of someone being stuck in a bubbled-off suburban hometown due to a lack of means to escape, but rather of accepting the hand you’re dealt and deciding to become its anti-hero alternative.

One thing is for sure: its backwards behavior needs get called out. On “Ego Death At A Bachelorette Party”, Williams pointedly directs her attention toward Music City’s racist country bar scene and the bachelorette party hedonism plaguing Broadway Street — big draws to the local economy, and yet everything that you’d assume would go against all of those holy book teachings its revelers claim to hold up on high. It’s easy to understand how Williams stands out against that blinding hypocrisy, making it easy to hear why she’s the biggest star among them. With some healthy SZA influence fueling her hot takes with a contempo-R&B cool, Williams can at least live out her California dreamin’ through song. “Can only go up from here,” she sings — an easy fete to clear when the bar is clearly in Hell…

Directed by: Zachary Gray

Hayley Williams’ “Ego Death At A Bachelorette Party” single is available now on Post Atlantic.