WITHIN TEMPTATION 'Wanted To Sound A Little Bit More Modern' On 'Resist' Album

March 16, 2019

Prior to WITHIN TEMPTATION's performance in New York City on March 2, vocalist Sharon Den Adel spoke with Keefy of Ghost Cult magazine. The full conversation can be viewed below. A few excerpts follow (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET).

On the group's hiatus prior to the release of new album "Resist":

Sharon: "When we started to write again after [2014's] 'Hydra', I had writer's block — not just me, but the rest of the band as well. We knew what we wanted to do, but we didn't know how to get there, because it was a different sound that we were looking for, and it was a little bit too far away from WITHIN TEMPTATION – how everybody else knows us since 'Hydra'. We wanted to sound a little bit more modern, so we needed a different kind of production, different directions to go to. It took us some time, but we finally did find ways to implement some new stuff in our music and still stay WITHIN TEMPTATION."

On the reaction to their change in direction:

Sharon: "First of all, you make music for yourself... People fall in love with the first record they hear from you. It can be any album since we started. Everybody has a different album they like most, and people don't like change, generally. But for us, it's essential to make new music. We want to have change. We're not one of those bands who wants to do the same [thing] for many years."

On the process of choosing other artists to collaborate with:

Sharon: "We always look at the song, because that's the most important to us. You write a song and then you figure out later how you're going to fill it in. You look for a person that suits the song."

On evolving with the times:

Sharon: "We're looking always at the songs and what has changed [production-wise], because every time we bring out an album, it's four years later and there's new technology, there's [a] new way of doing things, and we've learned also in that time new things. That's what you try to implement every time when you start a new album."

On the differences between WITHIN TEMPTATION and her solo project, MY INDIGO:

Sharon: "Almost immediately after MY INDIGO, I started writing for the 'Resist' album. It is a very different album — different, I think, [because] this album was a little bit more political in some ways, and MY INDIGO is not. It's totally personal. But there are also some personal songs on this album that could have some overlap with MY INDIGO."

On whether to expect another four- to five-year gap between WITHIN TEMPTATION albums:

Sharon: "After the summer, we're going to write some new stuff again, probably... We want to start writing very soon again, because we have a good flow going on, so we want to try to keep it up."

On how she keeps her voice in shape while touring:

Sharon: "It's pretty hard, actually. Yesterday, I played Philly, and my voice dropped out halfway [through] the show. I couldn't sing any low notes anymore, but I could sing the operatic stuff. The things that I needed my low voice for, my more speaking kind of voice, it was very difficult. Today, I'm a little bit hoarse still, but it's going to be fine, I think... It's all due to, you know, you have the jet lag, and then the day after you've arrived, you immediately have a show, so maybe it was a bit of tight scheduling of everything in combination with this kind of [cold] weather. It's the first time we're touring here in this kind of weather. Every time we came here, it was beautiful weather. Next time, we're going to be touring a little bit later in the year, I think. [Laughs]"

On whether the group plans to commemorate the upcoming 20th anniversary of their sophomore album, "Mother Earth":

Sharon: "Not yet. I know it's been [20] years, but somehow, it doesn't feel like that, so maybe when we're fed up with writing new songs, we're going to do a tour of [2004's] 'The Silent Force' or 'Mother Earth'. You never know. I'm not promising anything. It's not like the whole album was that great. Certain songs were great... I like certain songs from every album, but there are also some songs that I felt like, 'Oh, I wish I'd never written [that].' Those things happen, but for other people, those are songs that they really like, and they don't like the ones that I like."

"Resist" was released on February 1. It is WITHIN TEMPTATION's first release through Spinefarm Records, the specialist hard rock label of Universal Music Group.

Find more on Within temptation
  • facebook
  • twitter
  • reddit
  • email

Comments Disclaimer And Information

BLABBERMOUTH.NET uses the Facebook Comments plugin to let people comment on content on the site using their Facebook account. The comments reside on Facebook servers and are not stored on BLABBERMOUTH.NET. To comment on a BLABBERMOUTH.NET story or review, you must be logged in to an active personal account on Facebook. Once you're logged in, you will be able to comment. User comments or postings do not reflect the viewpoint of BLABBERMOUTH.NET and BLABBERMOUTH.NET does not endorse, or guarantee the accuracy of, any user comment. To report spam or any abusive, obscene, defamatory, racist, homophobic or threatening comments, or anything that may violate any applicable laws, use the "Report to Facebook" and "Mark as spam" links that appear next to the comments themselves. To do so, click the downward arrow on the top-right corner of the Facebook comment (the arrow is invisible until you roll over it) and select the appropriate action. You can also send an e-mail to blabbermouthinbox(@)gmail.com with pertinent details. BLABBERMOUTH.NET reserves the right to "hide" comments that may be considered offensive, illegal or inappropriate and to "ban" users that violate the site's Terms Of Service. Hidden comments will still appear to the user and to the user's Facebook friends. If a new comment is published from a "banned" user or contains a blacklisted word, this comment will automatically have limited visibility (the "banned" user's comments will only be visible to the user and the user's Facebook friends).