EVANESCENCE’s AMY LEE: ‘I Feel Like I’m Not Being True To Myself If I’m Not Using My Voice Right Now’

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Last month, EVANESCENCE released a new single, "Use My Voice", which was written to celebrate the power of speaking out in order to promote more justice in the world. The track, featuring contributions from THE PRETTY RECKLESS's Taylor Momsen and HALESTORM's Lzzy Hale, was chosen by HeadCount in the USA to encourage voters to register, check their registration, or find out about their remote voting options amid the COVID-19 pandemic at UseMyVoice.org. "This song and this moment, for me, is very much about the voices that have been unheard," EVANESCENCE singer Amy Lee told AXS TV's "At Home And Social Online" (see video below). "We need everybody to speak up, even the people that aren't normally politically minded. I'm not. I, honestly, have been guilty of not always voting. It's not like I'm this person who's always speaking out. "I never, ever have used our platform to talk politics or religion," she continued. "That's always been, like, 'No. We need a place where we can all unify and come together,' and that has always been just a policy of mine. I've finally gotten to a place where it feels too big, it feels too important. I feel like I'm not being true to myself if I'm not using my voice right now and saying more than just 'go vote.' But for my own heart, being able to say what I believe from time to time while carefully choosing my words, I think that that's important right now. I think silence is a statement, "There's so many social issues going on," Amy added. "And it's not that you need to be super active on your Twitter; it doesn't really just mean that. But we need to be paying attention. And more than anything, we need to use our voices; we need to be heard. This country and the world needs to represent its people. So let's let 'em know we're here." This past May, Lee said that she was " angry, horrified" and "ashamed" over the murder of George Floyd in police custody as well as President Donald Trump's response to the subsequent protests and riots. Just three months earlier, Lee opened up about her political views for the first time, explaining that she couldn't "stand by" and keep her mouth shut while her "country's freedom is taken away." He decision to speak out was apparently prompted by the GOP-controlled Senate's vote to acquit Trump on both articles of impeachment without calling witnesses. She wrote at the time: "I do not accept lying, cheating or bullying from my government… Accepting this abuse says it's okay for our leaders to lie to us, cheat on us, make decisions without our input, and silence us when we try to speak up. This isn't about your policies or beliefs, it's about our freedom." Lee added: "I will never bow down to a dictator." EVANESCENCE's long-awaited new album, "The Bitter Truth", will arrive later this year. The band's new music is being produced by Nick Raskulinecz, who also worked on 2011's self-titled LP. EVANESCENCE spent much of the last two years recording and touring in support of 2017's "Synthesis", which contained some of the band's best-loved songs — as well as a couple of new ones — reinvented with full orchestra over a deep electronic landscape.