In a new interview, Evanescence frontwoman Amy Lee revealed that new single “Who Will You Follow?” was born from the emotional exhaustion and misinformation defining modern life.
Speaking to Rolling Stone AU/NZ, Lee explained that the song – lifted from the band’s forthcoming album Sanctuary – was shaped by the overwhelming state of the world right now, from political unrest to the constant flood of online disinformation.
“I think thematically, it just feels really on the nose of what so many of us are feeling right now, which is just completely overwhelmed by a flood of lies and just like a false world existing on the surface,” she said. “The song is about breaking through the lies, you know, to find each other, to find the humanity that absolutely exists within us and underneath it all. But we got to face that darkness before we can defeat it.”
The band released the song’s official music video this week, giving fans their first glimpse into the world of Sanctuary, Evanescence’s first album since 2021’s The Bitter Truth. According to Lee, “Who Will You Follow?” immediately felt like the obvious choice to lead the new era after more than three years spent working on the record.
“It’s hard to choose a first single, kind of. But this time it was, we all just knew,” she told Rolling Stone AU/NZ. “We didn’t even really have a conversation. It was like, ‘Yeah, that’s the first single.’”
Elsewhere, Lee reflected on how deeply the current political and cultural climate seeped into the songwriting process, describing music as an essential outlet during increasingly dark times. “People are being killed in our name. We are becoming so desensitised to just a violent truth,” she said. “It just feels like the bad guys are in charge.”
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Still, Lee said Sanctuary ultimately became a way to process those feelings without being consumed by them. “I think that’s part of the challenge for all of us in this time – to remember that that isn’t the whole world,” she said. “The music is my journal. It’s always been that.”
She added that she hopes the album offers listeners the same release it gave her while making it. “Music is really necessary right now,” Lee said. “I need the release and I need to feel connected to the human spirit and not some robot trying to sell me something in return.”
Evanescence’s Sanctuary arrives June 5th.
