Within Temptation's Sharon Den Adel on sharing her political views in the band's songs: "What kind of world do we want to live in?"
· louderBy Stef Lach
( Metal Hammer )
published 1 November 2024
Symphonic metal outfit Within Temptation feel the time is right to speak up on the important things
Within Temptation singer Sharon Den Adel says the band's decision to be more open about their political views in their music was aimed at sparking conversations.
Having been outspoken about the war in Ukraine in their recent single A Fool's Parade, the Dutch symphonic metal outfit stepped into potentially tricky territory.
But Den Adel insists she doesn't regret doing so, because too much is at stake for public figures stay quiet.
She tells Louder With Ore B: "I don't think we can end wars, but what I do think is it's important to keep on talking about the subjects which matter. And the thing is, I think it's good to have that conversation with everyone. Everybody should have this conversation. What kind of world do we wanna live in?
And I think sometimes when you're a politician, it's more difficult to get the message across even, as they are seen as politicians and they always have a certain agenda, which is logical in a way.
"But I think as musicians, we don't have an agenda. We are just one of those people feeling a bit powerless. And just talking about it and finding common ground with people who think differently, but also common ground with people who think the same way, you can exchange ideas. And hopefully, as long as we keep on talking to each other, that might bring some change in the future, hopefully."
Expanding further on finding common ground with people of differing political views, Den Adel adds: "I am a little bit more aware of it nowadays because the tension is so high and people, even in our own fanbase, our people are divided about it because we have fans over the whole world, of course, with a different background, different situation.
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"And when they tell their story, I understand sometimes their frustration. But voting for certain people because of that frustration doesn't make the problem go away, in my opinion. I hope there will be more musicians who will speak up and speak out because it is important.
"I'm really happy to see that, when people are more expressive, even if they have a different voice, like Roger Waters, for instance, he is completely pro Putin, which I was very surprised about.
"But on the other hand, he has a different voice. I don't agree with him, but it's good for both sides that people speak out and that we have a discussion about why are we thinking like that? Because he's not alone in his way of thinking.
"And as long as we try to understand why, where their anger or where their motivation comes from, why they support certain people in politics, then we might get closer to each other again. That's the only way forward."
A Better World with Within Temptation (Ore B 🤘 Louder) - YouTube
Stef wrote close to 5,000 stories during his time as assistant online news editor and later as online news editor between 2014-2016. An accomplished reporter and journalist, Stef has written extensively for a number of UK newspapers and also played bass with UK rock favourites Logan. His favourite bands are Pixies and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. Stef left the world of rock'n'roll news behind when he moved to his beloved Canada in 2016, but he started on his next 5000 stories in 2022.
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