Evanescence Shares Unsettling “The Game Is Over” Music Video
Two days ago, Evanescence released their rocking new single, “The Game Is Over.” It follows their excellent lead, “Wasted On You,” and both will appear on the band’s upcoming album The Bitter Truth. Both tracks were produced by Nick Raskulinecz, and “The Game Is Over” was the first new song the band wrote in 2019 for the forthcoming album.
“The Game Is Over” has a strong start, with pounding drums and an ominous bell ringing out. Low bass fills out the sound as frontwoman Amy Lee begins the first verse about having had enough. Guitars strengthen the song more as it moves into a second verse and the crescendoing pre-chorus. Finally we get to the big chorus, Amy singing powerfully about her desire to change and stop pretending. The straight-ahead rock sound of this single is most reminiscent of the band’s self-titled 2011 album. That makes sense, given that Nick Raskulinecz – the same man who produced Evanescence – also produced “The Game Is Over.”
The video for “The Game Is Over” is, as Amy Lee and director P.R. Brown described it, “an acid trip of a graphic video.” Like their clip for “Wasted On You,” the band members each shot their own parts from their respective homes. They each worked with the director to uncover their personal demons and display them here. As such, the footage and especially editing are strange, jarring, and even uncomfortable. It’s a thrillingly creepy video, and it feels old-school, reminiscent of the wackiness that defined most 1990s music videos.
Watch the wild music video for “The Game Is Over” below:
In a new Instagram post, the video director, P.R. Brown, shared some insight into how he and the band made the music video:
I know we all want to be back to normal, and I am itching to return to set again. In the meantime, you have creative geniuses like Evanescence who will push through to make their voice be heard, even in these weird circumstances.
Amy hit me up and said she wanted an acid trip of a graphic video that dealt with the demons we all have inside us. During this time, those demons are even stronger over the frustration of the state of the world we are in. I have to hand it to the band as they each filmed themselves on their phones in uncomfortable roles with things that are incredibly personal to them, and did it beautifully. You could spend hours trying to unpack the references in here. They could have easily chosen to wait until things normalize to shoot a larger production, but wanted to express themselves through the tools they have now in a ridiculously creative way.
What’s fascinating is that each member dug deeper than I could have ever pulled out of them on a traditional set. Throughout my career I have done many graphic videos and these days tend to shy away from them. But in this case it completely made sense. It’s not supposed to be pretty, it’s meant to be intentionally uncomfortable, to put you in their shoes and feel the anxiety ripping them apart so they can move forward in the end like a phoenix. Some will get that and some will say oh god not another heavy fx video.
To make the latter claim completely misses the point entirely.
At the end of the day the band wanted to express themselves in this way and I have nothing but complete respect and love for their love of creating art. 5 band members, all around the world, worked together to make a beautifully poignant piece that points out the misgivings of perfection. That is pretty damn incredible and inspiring. Based on the responses I have seen so far, the band really knows how to push the right buttons to get much needed dialog moving forward. A huge congrats to them on a job well done!!
I have nothing but love and admiration for this creative band of brothers and sisters.
“The Game Is Over”
You can stream or download “The Game Is Over” from your favorite music provider here. Be sure to also listen to “Wasted On You” wherever you get your music. Both songs will appear on Evanescence’s upcoming album The Bitter Truth, expected later in 2020.
These first two singles are the only songs confirmed for The Bitter Truth so far. However, two new songs have appeared on ASCAP and BMI: “Use My Voice” and “Yeah Right” will both likely appear on the album. “Heavy Changes” is another rumored song title floating around, though we haven’t seen it registered yet.
Additionally, in a recent interview with Nylon, Amy Lee revealed that one of the songs Evanescence recorded this year was originally meant to appear on their 2011 album. She stated:
One of the songs we’ve recorded so far is from 10 years ago, from the first time we went in to record our third album. Completely reformed into a special new thing.
We’re not sure which song that is, but we’re excited to find out! Maybe “Perfect Dream” or “You’ve Got A Lot To Learn”?
Recent Music from Evanescence & Amy Lee
After releasing Evanescence in 2011, frontwoman Amy Lee went down her own musical path. In 2014, Amy shared her soundtrack album, Aftermath. Two years later, inspired by her young son, Amy released a children’s album, Dream Too Much. Amy also released a 4-song EP of covers featuring songs by Portishead, U2, Led Zeppelin, and Chris Isaak.
In 2017, Amy shared translated cover of “Love Exists,” a reworking of “L’amore esiste” by the Italian singer Francesca Michielin. Also that spring, Amy released her original solo song, “Speak To Me,” for the film Voice From The Stone. More recently, Amy collaborated with violinist Lindsey Stirling’s on the song “Love Goes On And On,” released last September. Three months ago, Amy’s song with Body Count, called “When I’m Gone,” was released. And in May, Amy performed a duet of “Break In” with Halestorm’s Lzzy Hale; the studio version of their duet will be released in August.
Apart from Amy’s solo work and duets, Evanescence has also been active in the last few years. In early 2017, Evanescence released a boxset of their three studio albums and b-sides, and later that year we got their electronic-meets-symphonic album, Synthesis. After plenty of touring, they put out Synthesis Live in fall 2018. Last November, Evanescence shared their cover of Fleetwood Mac’s “The Chain,” releasing its music video in January.
The Return of Evanescence
Evanescence has been actively working on their long-awaited 4th studio album in the past year. They started writing and demoing in spring 2019, and officially began recording earlier this year. They expressed plans to work with several producers. This year, they began with producer Nick Raskulinecz – the same man who produced their last album, Evanescence, in 2011, and mixed “The Chain” last fall. Although they were going to just do two new songs with Nick, they ended up doing four with him.
The band also has a major tour coming up with the band Within Temptation. Their World Collide tour will take the two bands across Europe sometime in 2021. It was supposed to happen in April, and then this September, but like all other tours and events, it was delayed due to Coronavius.
Enjoy “The Game Is Over” and its new music video. Don’t forget to also stream “Wasted On You” and its music video. Later this year, the band will release their next album, The Bitter Truth – keep track of all we know about the album here. In the coming months, we’ll likely learn the full tracklisting and release date for the album. As always, keep checking back here for all the latest Evanescence music news.
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