Evanescence are back with another striking visual from their new album The Bitter Truth. For the “Better Without You” video, the band let their emotions run rampant as they face their biggest threats head-on.
The passionate visual isn’t the only exciting thing Evanescence are sharing this week. The band also announced that on May 13, they will be hosting another special livestream concert where they will perform several songs from The Bitter Truth live for the first time.
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The “Better Without You” visual explodes with emotions as Evanescence face the threats grabbing hold of them. In particular, vocalist Amy Lee can be seen wandering through a dimly lit labyrinth while powerfully singing the song’s compelling lyrics.
Eventually, she lets go of her pent-up feelings and literally breaks down the walls around her with a microphone stand, emerging victorious from the threats surrounding her. However, a shocking twist at the end of the video seemingly reveals that Lee knew what was keeping her captive all along.
Following the release of “Better Without You” back in March, Lee offered some insight into the meaning behind the track. For her, the metal-inspired single focuses on growing up and realizing life isn’t a fairytale after all.
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“As the lyrics had started to form, and just my feeling in this moment in general, there’s a big theme of disillusionment for me,” Lee says in a press release. “Just growing up and seeing that fairy tales aren’t really real. And it’s hard to be a grownup, it really is. Because somebody else isn’t in charge, we really have to be able to make our own decisions, find out our own information [and] protect ourselves.”
Ultimately, “Better Without You” tackles the choices we make each day and how they impact us in the long run.
“People die, we’re all going to,” Lee says in a press release. “There’s no magic castle. So that sounds like a lot of doom and gloom when I say it, but there’s a choice to accept that truth and live in it and embrace it, choose to live, choose to live in a moment and the choice to just give up. And there’s a struggle there, but my choice is most definitely to take that pill.”
The “Better Without You” video was directed by Eric D. Howell, who also directed their “Use My Voice” video, and is available to watch below.
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The Bitter Truth, which was released on March 26, marks Evanescence’s first full-length album of original music since their 2011 self-titled LP. Along with “Better Without You,” the new record features the singles “Wasted On You,” “The Game Is Over” and “Yeah Right.” As well, Evanescence teamed up with Lzzy Hale, the Pretty Reckless’ Taylor Momsen, Within Temptation’s Sharon den Adel and more for the powerful single “Use My Voice.”
In an exclusive interview with Alternative Press, Lee opened up about why the band decided to release The Bitter Truth incrementally throughout the past year.
“The Bitter Truth is so different in its formation,” she tells Alternative Press. “We’re just beyond all the rules now. All the freedom that all those experiences I just talked about afforded us the confidence of feeling like we can reinvent our process if we want to. For me, just being open-minded to even the way that we release our music. And being brave enough to start releasing music when we haven’t finished the album.
It’s been such a crazy year, such a hard year for everybody in different levels and in different ways. But this music is saving my life. It has been the thing that I can own, the one thing that I can come out here and do and make something beautiful. It’s a deeper understanding of my place [and] my belief of my place in the world and in our music and why I do what I do. It comes from these hard moments.”
Lee’s interview with Alternative Press and The Bitter Truth are available to stream below.
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On May 13, Evanescence are treating fans to their special Driven To Perform Livestream Concert event. During the virtual show, the band will perform songs from throughout their discography. As well, their set will also include several tracks from The Bitter Truth that have never been played live before. The free event, which is being hosted by Alice Cooper, kicks off at 8 p.m. CT via DrivenToPerformConcert.com and Evanescence’s Facebook page.
We’ve partnered with @CooperTire for the Driven To Perform Concert on May 13 at 8 pm CT hosted by @alicecooper. Vote your favorite band & register for the show to be one of the first to hear us perform songs from our new album, “The Bitter Truth.” https://t.co/infsfCFcLw pic.twitter.com/mfFaXKdmvH
— Evanescence (@evanescence) April 16, 2021
What are your reactions to Evanescence’s “Better Without You” video? Let us know in the comments below.