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"Imperfection" is a song by American rock band Evanescence from their fourth studio album, Synthesis (2017). It was released as the lead single from the album on September 15, 2017. The track was written by group members Amy Lee, Troy McLawhorn, Tim McCord, Jen Majura and Will Hunt and produced by Lee and William Barry "Spaceway" Hunt. "Imperfection" is an electronic and symphonic rock song with influences from EDM and hip hop music.

"Imperfection"
Single by Evanescence
from the album Synthesis
Released	September 15, 2017 (2017-09-15)
Recorded	February–August 2017
Studio	Spaceway Productions
Genre	Electronic symphonic rock
Length	4:22
Label	BMG
Songwriter(s)	Amy Lee Troy McLawhorn Tim McCord Will Hunt Jen Majura
Producer(s)	Will Hunt (Spaceway) Amy Lee
Evanescence singles chronology
"Lost in Paradise" (2012) "Imperfection" (2017) "Hi-Lo" (2018)
Music video
"Imperfection" on YouTube

Although the song failed to chart as highly as the band's previous singles, it appeared on the Billboard Hot Rock & Alternative Songs chart. An accompanying music video was released on October 19, 2017.

Background and release

"Imperfection" was written by Amy Lee, Troy McLawhorn, Tim McCord, Jen Majura and Will Hunt, while production was handled by Lee and William Barry "Spaceway" Hunt.[1] The recording process and making of the track was filmed for an episode of Inside Synthesis, which was released on September 29, 2017.[2]

During an interview, Amy Lee revealed the song was written from the perspective of someone "left behind" after a suicide or loss.[3] Lee confessed in 2019 that the song became "more special" to her following her brother's passing in January 2018.[4]

"For me, this is the most important song on the album. I struggled with the lyrics for a long time because there was a lifetime of work to live up to and I wasn't sure what to say or how to be good enough. When it finally started pouring out of me, it was undeniable. I had no choice. It's for all the people we've lost, all the people who we could lose, to suicide and depression. I'm singing from the perspective of the person left behind, the person in the waiting room. It's a plea to fight for your life, to stay. Don't give into the fear- I have to tell myself that every day. Nobody is perfect.  We are all imperfect, and it's precisely those imperfections that make us who we are, and we have to embrace them because there's so much beauty in those differences. Life is worth fighting for. You are worth fighting for."[5]

"Imperfection" was released as the album's lead single for digital download and streaming on September 15, 2017.[6]

Composition

"Imperfection" is an electronic and symphonic rock[7] song with influences from EDM and hip hop music.[8] Its instrumentation consists of trip hop beats, piano, theremin and synthesizers, which departed from the rock sound of Evanescence's previous music.[9][1] Lyrically, the track was described as "an emotional moment dealing with suicide and depression."[10] The song is the band's first song to be labelled as explicit, since it includes the lyric "the world's a little more fucked up every day".[6][3] "Imperfection", alongside the following single "Hi-Lo", are the only songs to be new tracks in the album since the other's were released in the band's previous works.[11]

Reception

Rolling Stone's Ryan Reed stated that "Imperfection" "[made] Evanescence achieve electronic-symphonic symmetry."[3] Stephen Dalton of Classic Rock commented that both of the album's singles "are both classy, stadium-sized anthems that couch soaring Bond-theme melodrama in supple trip-hop shudders and sumptuous, vaguely Middle Eastern string swirls.[12]

Music video

Lee revealed on September 15, 2017 that a music video for "Imperfection" was made the same day of the song's release.[13] The video premiered exclusively on NME on October 19, 2017, before being available on Evanescence's YouTube channel.[10] It became the band's first music video since "Lost in Paradise" in 2013.[7]

Track listing

Personnel

Credits adapted from Tidal and the liner notes of Synthesis.[14][1]

• Amy Lee – vocals, producer, composer, lyricist, piano
• Will "Spaceway" Hunt – producer, composer, engineer, recording engineer, synthesizers, programming
• Will Hunt – composer, drums
• Jen Majura – composer, guitar, theremin
• Tim McCord – composer, guitar, synthesizers
• Troy McLawhorn – composer, guitar
• Chris Allgood – mastering assistance
• Gary Hedden – additional audio editing
• Nick Spezia – orchestral engineering
• Emily Lazar – mastering engineer
• Damian Taylor – mixing engineer
• David Campbell – orchestra arrangement, orchestra conducting

Charts

Chart (2017)	Peak position
US Hot Rock & Alternative Songs (Billboard)[15]	39

Release history

Region	Date	Format	Label	Ref.
United States	September 15, 2017	Digital download streaming	BMG	[6]

References

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