WITHIN TEMPTATION's SHARON DEN ADEL: 'It Felt Natural For Us' To Write About World Events On 'Bleed Out' Album

In a new interview with Primordial Radio, WITHIN TEMPTATION frontwoman SHARON DEN ADEL spoke about "Sing Like A Siren", her recent collaboration with Ukrainian artist and Eurovision contestant Jerry Heil, and how it might relate to the making of the band's next studio album. The Dutch singer said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Well, at the moment it was really nice to combine ['Sing Like A Siren'] with [WITHIN TEMPTATION's] documentary ['The Invisible Force', capturing the band's visit to Ukraine and their initiative to support Ukrainian artists by bringing them along on their 'Bleed Out' 2024 tour], because it's not really typical WITHIN TEMPTATION music, but it has parts of it that is typical WITHIN TEMPTATION, but it's very much a ballad. But I love the song because it has this really Ukrainian motif and it suited really well with the documentary, and I love that kind of folklore kind of music from that area of the world. And so I was happy to make this song with her. And, yeah. the thing is it fit really well with the documentary. But what we did in the past, on the last album [2023's 'Bleed Out'], is release constantly singles and singles and singles [prior to the release of the full-length LP]. And it was also because corona, I think. We're not gonna do that this time. We're gonna have more silence and do it with one big bang."

Asked if the process of making the documentary will influence the very nature of the next WITHIN TEMPTATION album, Sharon said: "Well, it has some influences, but I think we did say a lot already on the latest album. It depends a little bit about how crazier the world gets from this point. I didn't think it was gonna be this crazy now. So it will be influenced by that. We're storytellers and we always get influenced by the world — we've always been — but I'm not sure how much, if it will be the same way that we did with the previous album, because we said already a lot. We don't wanna repeat ourselves again with that way, but in a different way maybe. Yeah."

When the interviewer noted that WITHIN TEMPTATION's songs straddle the fence of being stories and commentaries on world events, Sharon concurred. "Yeah, exactly," she said. "Well, at least with the latest albums we have been, yeah. Also because we felt a certain urgency that if you're not doing it now, when the world is at its most craziest in history ever, to my opinion, almost, when are you gonna speak up? And we feel we have a platform. We make a [type of] music that we are able to talk about these things, in my opinion — we chose it for that reason also — and the type of music, it's who we are. And I think, yeah, it felt good to do it. I can understand if other people don't wanna do it because it's difficult sometimes. But, yeah, it felt natural for us."

The official music video for "Sing Like A Siren" was directed by Maarten Welzen, who previously worked on WITHIN TEMPTATION's clips for "Paradise (What About Us?)", "The Purge" and "Entertain You".

"Sing Like A Siren" reflects both struggle and determination, capturing the feeling of powerlessness as well as the need to stand up against it. The song also carries a message of guidance: being a siren to call those who are lost back home.

In the fall of 2023, WITHIN TEMPTATION co-sponsored the Ukraine Aid Operations boat fundraiser for the Ukrainian Marines. They donated 6,000 euros for 30 patches, which they packaged with a limited-edition box of their latest album, "Bleed Out".

More than a year ago, Sharon spoke to Metal Musikast about WITHIN TEMPTATION's music video for the band's "A Fool's Parade" single, featuring Ukrainian producer and vocalist Alex Yarmak. Recorded amidst the streets of Kyiv with renowned Ukrainian video director Indy Hait, the clip captured Sharon at important Ukrainian landmarks. Asked what it was like to make a music video in the capital city of a country at war, Den Adel said: "Well, I was never scared to go there, because I was in good hands, to my opinion. We were helped to do this video and to organize everything, what we wanted to do in Kyiv, by the organization called Music Saves Ukraine. And they told us about the app that you had need to have. For instance, if you go into Kiev, which we did by night train from Poland, because there's no commercial flights from Amsterdam to Kyiv anymore. So we had to go by night train from Poland to Kyiv. And they told us to download an air-alerts app because everyone in Ukraine has that, and you can select a region that you are in and any incoming dangerous drones or airplanes, like MiGs, who are carrying a supersonic bomb or anything, they will put that in the app and you know what the danger is and how much time you have to go to a shelter. And there's shelters everywhere, even in the hotel that I was. And we once had to go underneath the metro station, because there was a MiG on their way. And sometimes it has a bomb, sometimes it doesn't. It's sometimes just looking and scouting where they can do something with the next airplane. And this time it wasn't wearing any supersonic bomb, which was good for us because it can wipe out a complete area in a matter of seconds."

She continued: "It's strange to be there, because normal life continues in Kyiv for 90 percent, to my opinion, when I was there, because when I left the bombing was actually intensified by Russia on Kyiv. But they have a good air defense system, which most rockets and bombs don't hit Kyiv itself, but the debris, of course, does, and the pieces of that, of the thing that they are trying to attack them with, it's coming still down on buildings and buildings do get hits and also bystanders. But if you know in time that they're coming, then you can go to a shelter. Most of the time it goes okay. So I wasn't scared because I knew this knowledge upfront. And, yeah, it is when the air alert goes off and when you see military people walking in streets, it's a different picture than the rest of Europe, of course."

In March 2022, WITHIN TEMPTATION was one of the artists who took part in a telethon concert in support of Ukraine. "Save Ukraine - #StopWar" united more than 20 countries and bring together more than 50 participants. The marathon was broadcast from Warsaw on the Polish TV channel TVP. In addition, broadcasters from many countries around the world rebroadcasted the marathon on their local channels.

Press photo courtesy of Wilful Publicity