Synthesis (Evanescence album)


Synthesis is the fourth studio album by American rock band Evanescence. It was released on November 10, 2017, by BMG Rights Management. The album includes reworked versions of the band's previous material with an orchestral arrangement and electronica music elements, in addition to two new songs. David Campbell was responsible for the arrangement, along with Amy Lee and producer William Barry "Spaceway" Hunt. In order to promote the new material, Evanescence embarked on the Synthesis Tour, which opened on October 14, 2017, in Las Vegas and continued in cities across the United States and Canada until December.

Background

Since the release of their self-titled third studio album in 2011 and the accompanying world tour, Evanescence took a three-year music hiatus, during which each member pursued their own projects. During that period, the band also parted ways with their long-term record label Wind-up Records. In November 2015, Evanescence made its return to stage, performing at the Ozzfest in Tokyo. At that time, Lee announced that there were no future plans for recording new material with the band and that the group would only tour and rejoin with its fans through concerts in the following year. She further added that she focused on making music as a solo artist and exploring a side to her different from the one when she worked with Evanescence. In 2016, more dates were added to their tour with concerts taking place in the United States.
On September 13, 2016, the band announced a vinyl box set titled The Ultimate Collection which included all three studio albums, the demo recorded early on in their career and new version of their song "Even in Death"; the set was released on February 17, 2017. In October 2016, Lee revealed during an interview with the online magazine Loudwire that "there is Evanescence in the future", adding that the band had reunited to re-record some of their earlier material, including tracks from their work before their first studio album Fallen. On December 9, 2016, a compilation album titled Lost Whispers, consisting of B-sides and bonus tracks from the band's three studio albums, was made available for streaming and download on several music platforms.

Conception

The band's fourth studio album and its corresponding title Synthesis were revealed by Lee in a video posted on the group's Facebook page on May 10, 2017. According to her, the title came from the fact that the album is "the synthesis, the combination, the contrast, the synergy between the organic and the synthetic, also the past and present". She further noted how the new music would be stripped down, performed by an orchestra and would feature elements of electronica and the "synthetic world of beats and sounds". According to her, the process behind the album included the band going through their previous catalog and reworking some of their songs. In addition, two new songs were also recorded for Synthesis. She revealed during a video: "This is a total passion project for me. There are so many layers in our music underneath the huge drums and guitars. I've always wanted to shine a light on some of the gorgeous David Campbell arrangements and programming elements in our songs, and that idea snowballed into completely re-doing them with full orchestra, not just strings, elaborate programming and experimentation". Lee further added that the project "flows like a big, dynamic soundtrack". The rearrangement of the songs was done by David Campbell, who had worked with the band during their previous projects, as well as Lee and William B. Hunt.
The orchestral parts were recorded by Nashville Music Scoring Orchestra at Ocean Way Studios in Nashville, Tennessee.

Release

On August 14, 2017, the band uploaded a video on their Facebook profile revealing that the album was in its final stages of recording. The reworked version of "Bring Me to Life" was released as the first promo single on August 18, 2017. One of the two original songs recorded for the album, "Imperfection", was released as the first commercial single on September 15, 2017, along with the album's pre-order. For Lee, the song was the most important on the album and the process of its writing took a longer period due to her uncertainty of how to put in words what she wanted to. On the same day, the album's release date of November 10, 2017, was also announced and the band uploaded a video on their official YouTube channel of them working on the album in the studio and sharing their thoughts about the project. The reworked version of "Lacrymosa" was released as the second promo single on October 27, 2017.
The album was released by BMG Rights Management in the Americas, while being distributed by Virgin Records in Japan and by Sony Music internationally.

Composition

The Synthesis version of "Bring Me to Life" is a stripped-down one, as it replaces the drums and the guitars from the original version with a strings arrangement. Its instrumentation is also provided by crashing cymbals, "tension-building" timpani drums and includes various electronic elements throughout. Several critics have described its new arrangement as "dramatic". Lee has described the song as "new" to her again due to the fact that she incorporated musical elements and vocals which she had "heard in head" since its release.
"Imperfection", one of the original songs written for the album, is an electronic-symphonic track which features Lee's "signature belting". According to Lee, the song was written in the perspective of a person who has lost someone due to suicide and depression and she described it as a "plea to fight for your life". "Hi-Lo", the other original song, is a leftover track from their 2011 self-titled album. It was written in 2007 by Lee and producer Will Hunt, being their first collaboration ever. According to Lee, the song is about moving on, "but in a very non-confrontational, non-angry way. It's just, 'Hey, everything that happened, I'm over it and I'm not mad at you'."

Tour

In order to promote the album, the band announced Synthesis Live on August 14, 2017. The tour kicked off on October 14, 2017, in Las Vegas, and ended in December of the same year with 28 stops in various US states and Canada. The goal behind the performances is to emphasize the vocal performance, emotions and stories behind the lyrics of the band's songs for which they will be accompanied by an orchestra on stage. In September, the European leg of the tour was announced, including 18 concerts in March and April 2018. In March 2018, it was announced that the band would tour North America that summer with Lindsey Stirling, with the two artists co-headlining. The North American leg began on July 6 in Kansas City, Missouri, with the final show of the tour taking place September 8 in Ridgefield, Washington.

Critical reception

Synthesis received generally positive reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album has an average score of 69 based on 4 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

Track listing

Personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of Synthesis.

Evanescence

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Chart Position
US Top Classical Albums 23