Sharon Den Adel , vocalist of Within Temptation , spoke about the reaction of the band's fans to the political opinions in some of their recently released songs, especially those that highlighted current topics such as the war in Ukraine and the suspicious death of Mahsa Amini , an Iranian woman "detained" for not wearing a hijab – the headscarf that women are required to wear in the Islamic faith.
In an interview with the website Rock Antenne , Sharon said [transcription via Blabbermouth ]: “I don’t know how to assess the response we’ve had so far. Will it help a little in the end? I hope so. I don’t think we’ll make a huge impact with the choices we’ve made, but it’s just for debate in society at large. I think it’s important for a band to take a stand.”
Sharon Den Adel gives her opinion on political lyrics
The vocalist explained: “It’s hard to say how much impact this has on us in the future. But I think we’ve had very varied reactions to it. People say, ‘Don’t be political.’ There are people who are really applauding: ‘Finally, someone is talking about this.’ You always have haters and lovers of something. And I think that’s the debate we’re trying to raise. Even the haters, I don’t care that they hate, it’s the fact that they’re talking about it. Even the fact that they hate might be generating a debate within them without them realizing it. It’s just trying to have that debate amongst yourselves: what kind of world do we want to live in? And I think that’s what we—I don’t know if we’ll eventually pay the price by losing… We have no choice.”
She continued: “We wrote an album that was, in large part, inspired by Ukraine. And the more you talk about it, the more involved you become. Also, the organizations you support gain a face. It’s no longer just a headline. The faces of the people you’ve met along the way, who work for these organizations, Ukrainians and also bands we work with, and musicians, become personal because the headline is their faces. You think about them when there’s another attack from Russia. You think, ‘Oh my God. I really hope they’re okay.’ And we still have contact with many of them.”
Asked about people “getting tired” of hearing about the various wars happening around the world, Sharon said: “Yes, they do get tired. But unfortunately, people in Ukraine don’t have [the ability to switch it off]. And people in Gaza and people in Brazil or wherever something is happening with drug cartels or in Colombia or all the things happening politically, it’s not possible for people to give up a good fight. When you start doing that, it’s also like, when do you stop doing that again? And you get more and more involved.”
Within Temptation releases documentary 'The Invisible Force'
Recently, Within Temptation collaborated with Ukrainian artist and Eurovision Jerry Heil on the new single “Sing Like A Siren”.
The song serves as the soundtrack for the documentary Within Temptation: The Invisible Force . The 23-minute production follows in detail the journey of vocalist Sharon Den Adel and her husband, guitarist Robert Westerholt, to Ukraine amidst the conflicts with Russia.
The official synopsis [via Blabbermouth ] says that Den Adel “travels to Kiev to meet fans and offer them hope during a performance in a war zone”.
