There is something that has to be said for the iconic voice of Amy Lee and the sound that is Evanescence. Blending fierceness with thought-provoking lyrics and musical sophistication: Evanescence are timeless.
It seems like forever ago that the band brought us ‘Bring Me To Life’ and while it may seem that their chances of ever escaping that song may be very slim, it’s no matter, because a new era of Evanescence is here.
Right now the band are riding the wave of having released their first full album of brand new music in over a decade. And given the current status of the world, The Bitter Truth couldn’t have arrived at a more fitting time. Among the ongoing challenges that are the pandemic, racial injustice and economic upheaval, as well as the loss of loved ones, for the band there was a theme that began to emerge. That pushing through is better than giving up.
Lee said, “We’ve been pouring it all into the album. It’s just been going all into the writing and into the music and into just even the performances on the album, for it to finally be released just feels like a primal scream it feels so, so good.”
When asked on the process of creating the album, Lee says that it wasn’t just about unloading loss and grief, “it was the incredible empowerment strength that did exist in the hope, you know for the next day and for the connection to something bigger than this world and myself.”
Lee continued, “It’s cool listening back to it because what I really hear is something more empowering than I would have imagined about my own heart a year ago, and for us to be able to put that out and share it with the world makes me feel like it’s bigger than me and in a really good way because it’s something that other people could benefit from hearing potentially.”
Despite all of the challenges, Lee says that now that the album is out, she can breathe a sigh of relief, “because it feels really good.” She said, “A lot went into it, obviously it’s been a long time since we’ve released a full new album, and a lots happened since then.”
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With many of the aforementioned global issues still carrying on today both inside and outside of the music industry, if anyone can speak on being a strong female lead in the world of rock, it’s Lee. Emerging onto the scene back in 2003, when Lee looks back she says it feels like Evanescence, “snuck into the party”.
With Lee carving a space out for herself with Evanescence in the early 2000’s, Lee couldn’t always claim being surrounded by other badass female rockers. But right now that’s far from the case, with Lee being in fabulous company with the likes of Lizzy Hale, Taylor Momsen, Sharen den Adel and of course, her sisters. She said, “It’s not that that didn’t exist, some of those people were there, but to have that shine is important to me.”
And when it comes to female empowerment and equality, Lee says that she does feel like there’s been a slow shift, “There are more women around me, when I work. Part of that’s just because of taking control and the people that I surround myself with. But another part of that is, is that on a broader scale, women, whether they’re on stage and the hard rock scene or backstage, you know, managers and engineers and producers and everything else, which is really really cool to see. It feels really good, it feels right.”
Lee continued, “Just because it shouldn’t be one or the other, it should be all one thing and I think that part of that probably just comes from the idea and the feeling that like, particularly heavy rock music is aggressive, you know, it sounds aggressive it sounds masculine that’s just something only a man could feel. But I think that our music, and you know if it’s so hard to say rock music because that’s so broad, but there are so many different sides to what that could mean and what that does mean. Rock fans know that.”
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Watch ‘Better Without You’ by Evanescence below.
