Evanescence fans have been waiting five years for the band to release a new album - so it's no surprise that lead singer Amy Lee is obsessed with getting their third release right. Before heading to Toronto's Liberty Studios last night for a playback session of five fully mastered tracks, she spent the morning tweaking songs on Evanescence, which comes out October 11th and was produced by Nick Raskulinecz (Foo Fighters, Rush).
"I literally was just refining one last mix while we were getting ready and that's why I'm 15 minutes late. Up until the very end, it's like, 'Wait! One more thing! One more tiny little thing!'" Lee told Rolling Stone.
At Liberty, though, she seemed excited about finally sharing the new music with the crowd of around 30. "We've just been working really hard for a long time on this record and we're totally proud of it and excited to be touring again," she said as the listening session began.
The singer/pianist then went into a small control room and began playing the first single, "What You Want" (which is on radio now). The song opens with Lee's haunting, crystalline voice imploring, "Do what you, what you want, if you all have a dream for better." Lee stood and listened, glass of red wine in hand, rocking her head to the big industrial-strength sound, even mouthing along to some of the words. When the song ended, she let out a "woo-hoo."
Next up: "The Change," which begins with a gentle vibe that grows more insistent, but when it got to the end and the next track, "The Other Side" started right away, Lee griped, "Come on! Cut off the ending?" But she was soon lightly hitting the table with her left fist as the third song, with its more grinding groove, got going.
"My Heart Is Broken" which begins softly with piano and vocals, quickly upped the intensity and Lee went back in the main room to experience the final two songs there. She returned to the control room towards the end of the impassioned ballad "Lost In Paradise," a likely contender for a single. "Man, I wanna hear the whole thing," she exclaimed after all five songs had been played. "One more!"
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