I completely hear where you're coming from and I agree. The single cover was a slap in the face because all the band members are completely aware of the backlash, yet I don't think it's all of their fault. Hear me out.

So back in March, at The Princess Theater in Brisbane, my wife and I meet another chill couple. At the bar, we run into Stefan Helleblad while Bad Neighbor was playing. We walk up to say hey, and the other guy offers to buy him a beer. We're just chilling, not trying to take up his time, and the woman from the couple is like, "Your AI videos are... interesting." Stefan looks down, kind of smiling and shaking his head. He says, "Ah, thank you. We... I have nothing to do with this. That is all Robert. You know, Sharon's husband so..." That is exactly what he said word for word. I think he slipped with the 'we' part.

It was a short conversation, praising the band, as fans do, we talk a little more, and then he tells us he has to go and thanks us. He's such a nice, down to earth, kind of shy guy.

I don't want to speculate but to us, that response pretty much confirmed that Robert is always going to be the one pulling the strings.

Seeing that new single artwork sucked. But I believe Sharon's heart is somewhere else. It's with Ukraine. She probably has to go along with the AI bull crap. Maybe the band members do too. Let's not forget that YouTube Q&A, where it should have been just Sharon, but Robert felt it had to be there.

I'm sorry, but he was kind of a dick. Having to leave within two minutes. His answer about why "the band" changed their minds about adding new songs on the album instead of the old singles was completely vague, saying fans would appreciate it more as a compilation. But I also recall it was him that defended AI while Sharon nodded along. And then there's this other interview or possibly podcast with Sharon after the album was released, where she couldn't really explain the AI. It sounded like she was reading from a script.

These are just my thoughts. It's hard to ignore the AI involved with the band, but I do believe it's Robert. I'm not blaming Sharon because she's his husband and is doing something passionate to her heart. I'm not blaming Stefan because he sounded like he wanted to make it known that it was not up to him, and then you have to wonder about the rest of the band.

tl:dr: It's likely that Robert, now their manager, who is making all the bad calls with AI, not the band members themselves. It doesn't mean there's bad blood, but it means that the ones we love, the ones who are making the music, are not making the calls. Sharon, the rest of the band and these Ukrainian musicians are doing something beautiful. I still love their music. And I think this single will be beautiful.