In a recent interview on the Twenty400 Block Podcast, Chester Bennington’s son, Jaime Bennington, shared his thoughts and concerns about Emily Armstrong, the new singer of Linkin Park.
Jaime was asked how he feels about Armstrong performing his father’s songs. “I think that it’s a nice karaoke job. I think it sounds like someone having fun for sure,” he replied.
He also shared worry about Armstrong possibly damaging her voice. “I think she’s going to hurt her voice. I’m very worried that Emily in the long run has hurt her voice. I have a lot of respect for people as people I can understand art is art and that people are people and those are two different things. So I can enjoy Linkin Park as much as I detest some of their actions at the moment. With Emily, I’m just kind of worried that she’s pushing it a little hard.”
Jaime then addressed the rumors about backing tracks. “I realized that there are people saying that they’re using backing tracks but not just for backing for things that you can’t simultaneously play but you’re also just replacing the vocals just in case she gets drowned out. I also noticed that her mic at the Kio Forum show, it sounded like it on the LP showcase on the 5th and the 11th of September, they seemed like they mixed her vocals really low. Even in the arena, it didn’t sound like she was nowhere near the amount the level of intensity and clarity that Chester was.”
The backing track rumors started after the final chorus of ‘Heavy Is the Crown’ continued playing in the background during a live performance while Armstrong wasn’t singing.
“It’s definitely a vocal backing track,” one user wrote about the footage, but they defended Armstrong instead of criticizing her. “A lot of artists use this as a way to bolster the vocals live. You can hear that she is actively singing still, so atleast she isn’t lip syncing. Lots of artists use backing tracks for affects, backing vocals, extra instruments ect. It’s usually on sync with their click track the band would use. I don’t think it’s too big of a deal, atleast things aren’t being lip synced and fake playing, atleast 90% of everything is being played live.”
Some fans seemed to agree with Jaime’s concerns about Armstrong hurting her voice, with a few even questioning whether she fits with the band. However, with the release of ‘Over Each Other,’ others feel that Armstrong has proven herself and that her voice is finally being appreciated.
“This song was Emily’s song, showing the world what she can do with her voice, not just the growls and screams, but the emotional beauty to break our hearts, I loved this,” one user commented on Instagram. Another added, “Finally a song when we can appreciate Emily’s clear voice. She has such a beautiful tone.”
“‘The Emptiness Machine’: Introduction to Emily. ‘Heavy Is the Crown’: Shut down the ‘fans’ complaining she couldn’t be aggressive. ‘Over Each Other’: Shut down the ‘fans’ complaining she can only do raspy vocals,” wrote another user.
The new Linkin Park album, ‘From Zero,’ is set to be released next week on November 15.
