Lzzy Hale Had to Rediscover Her Love for Rock Making New Album

Stressful times can really test one's inner strength, and the COVID-19 pandemic saw pretty much everyone's normal routines get put on hold — especially musicians. Lzzy Hale admitted that she actually had to rediscover her love for rock 'n' roll while making Halestorm's upcoming new album Back From the Dead.

Hale formed Halestorm with her younger brother, drummer Arejay Hale, when she was just 13 years old, so she's been a proud member of the rock and metal community her entire life. Halestorm are known for their jam-packed touring schedules, so without being able to hit the road or even just be in the studio with her bandmates during the global lockdown, the frontwoman confessed that she suffered a bit of an "identity crisis," and even started to question whether she wanted to make music anymore.

"What you don't realize when everything is suddenly stolen from you [is] how much of those weapons and those things you have — whether it be a live show, your camaraderie with your fans or being with your bandmates, the traveling — you don't realize how many of those tools that you use to combat your own mental health and combat the kind of darkness that can creep in," Hale explained to us.

"Without all of those things, you have to almost look at yourself and be like, Okay, who am I without it? Who am I without the band? Who am I without the touring? Who am I without the forward movement? You almost lose your purpose for a second."

As a result, Hale described Back From the Dead as sounding more "angsty" than some of its predecessors, mainly because she and her bandmates put their all into it while working in the studio, as if it were going to be their last time making a record together. Furthermore, she acknowledged that there was a "silver lining" to the entire experience — she got to rediscover her passion for rock 'n' roll, for songwriting, for touring and everything that comes with being in a band.

But that doesn't mean the revelation came easy for her.

Halestorm, 'Back From the Dead'

"There was a long period of time where I didn't pick up the guitar, I wasn't sitting down to write songs and just had this, almost moment of fear like, Am I going to love this again? Can I go over and pick this up, can I sit at the piano and get through this? I had to force myself into it," the vocalist recalled.

"I ended up putting together things that I am passionate about, maybe things that I was missing that weren't there anymore. I would just sit and draft and re-draft these subjects matters, and then when I finally sat down I was like, Well, if I get through this and am really not feeling this and it's just not there anymore, then I have to re-evaluate my entire life."

Fortunately, Hale was able to form a solid foundation for a couple of songs and she was reminded why she loves rock so much, which she said was an extremely emotional reunion. Now, we're just days away from hearing what she and the rest of Halestorm brought to the table this time around, and the singer has deemed it their most cohesive record since The Strange Case Of... came out in 2012.

Back From the Dead will be out Friday, May 6. Watch our full interview with Hale below, pre-order your copy of the record here and check out Halestorm's 2022 tour dates to see if they're playing in a city near you.