For Evanescence, 2019 will be a return to rock.
The band has spent the bulk of 2017 and 2018 touring in support of Synthesis, their latest album featuring reworked versions of some of their past hits with orchestral accompaniment, which then translated into performing with a full orchestra.
While learning to adjust to performing with an orchestra was a process, Amy Lee explained in an interview with WMMR’s Sara that returning to more of a traditional rock show this year, with a few festival dates already confirmed, will be another adjustment for her and the band:
“I think one of the differences is when you’re putting on a rock show and there’s just the five of us on stage, I definitely feel a different amount of like…I have a need to constantly be sort of charging up the energy of the place and the audience…using the wireless mic and going to different spots on the stage and definitely yelling a little bit more. [Laughs] It’s a different thing, and there’s more volume behind me, too, so I definitely have to project my voice in a different way. I’m not nervous about it, but we haven’t practiced it yet, and we haven’t actually played rock-style in over a year, so I’m kind of curious about it again. It’s like, ‘What are we going to do here? How are we going to do this?’ We’re not going to do an entirely new show. Obviously, we don’t have a new rock album out yet, but we have to do something to make it a little bit different from what it was last time.”
Speaking of having a new rock album, Evanescence will be using this year to explore working on new music. Release date goals haven’t been tossed around, but fans might get something completely different than a traditional LP release. Lee recognizes how much the music industry has changed, however, she is also embracing those changes. From the sound of it, fans could potentially see the release of multiple EPs instead of one LP:
“I like the fact that things have changed. I’m an old-school person when it comes to music in a lot of ways. I like albums, I like stories, I like it when something can be cool by itself but also be a part of something bigger and make sense in a different context. But it doesn’t always have to be like that, because I myself, I don’t always listen to music that way anymore. It’s not like I’m always sitting and listening to a whole album…I feel like it’s always been sort of our method to think of things in terms of an album, but I’m not stuck to that completely this time…What if you had an idea about part of the songs that you’re making — like, four of them or something — to be one style, and then you had an idea for four songs over here to be this totally other style? And then take some time to do some covers. I just think it’s cool to be able to have this freedom to commit to less and do more. I’m totally open to doing a few songs instead of an album.”
This interview can be heard in its entirety below.
Erica Banas is rock/classic rock news blogger that loves the smell of old vinyl in the morning.