Amy Lee, co-founder and lead vocalist of the rock band Evanescence, recently opened up to Rolling Stone to discuss her first solo album, entitled Aftermath.
The album was recorded as the soundtrack for the Mark Jackson film War Story, and Lee collaborated with composer and cellist Dave Eggar on the project.
Commenting on the process, Lee remarked,”’Jackson would provide this framework, a map, of ‘OK, I want you to make the listener feel these certain rangers of emotion, make the character feel broken or isolated. You have these starting off points, and it’s cool because it forces you to write differently. I felt like I was exercising a different part of my brain.”’
Here is the trailer for War Story:
Lee added, “the film is very dark. We’re calling the album Aftermath in part because the film itself is about the aftermath, it’s not about the war. It’s called War Story, but you never see any war. It’s about the aftermath of her dealing with the tragedy that she’s witnessed.”
Lee, a classically trained pianist, also commented on the state of Evanescence, which she formed in Little Rock, Arkansas in 1995, alongside guitarist Ben Moody. Lee, 32, said, “I’ve loved my time with Evanescence. I wouldn’t just want to throw it away, but, for the foreseeable future, I don’t have any plans to do anything with the band. It’s really important to me to take some time to show some different sides of myself.”
Evanescence’s major label debut, Fallen, went platinum over 17 times after it was released in 2003, and won two Grammy awards. Lee’s last gig with the band occurred in November, 2012, in London’s Wembley Arena. Lee announced a hiatus after the show, saying, “at the end of any really long tour you need to get your head in order. I think at the end of the run we’ll go on a break for a while and figure things out.”
Aftermath is set to be released on August 25.
