Fugazi

I'm still letting it all sink in, but I also think that this is my favourite song. There's a theory out there that this song is about Marko leaving the band, with the islander theme, the lonely sailor, friendships undone and all that. It could actually make sense, but if true it's probably not something that Tuomas will want to admit or discuss in the future.

Sixth song on album 'Yesterwynde'. A folksy, mostly acoustic piece. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_zysIBA5tg Child of mankind Of yesterwynde Sway away the woe in us A grateful soul never needed much Emanate the heavens Through your touch Sway over the mountaintops Soar over the swaying crops Adorn your garden with A perfect day Sway over the discontent Ghost stories in a tent Your house lands on the witch See yourself It has begun to snow again In this perfect village, home The birds have flown, the birds have known Where you rest your worn out wings Sway over the mountaintops Soar ovеr the swaying crops Adorn your garden with A perfеct day Sway over the discontent Ghost stories in a tent Your house lands on the witch See yourself Some stories heal and some will scar The big reveal awaits in awe The big reveal awaits us all The big reveal The big reveal awaits us all The big reveal awaits us all Sway over the mountaintops Get that dance out of you Sway away, sway away Over the mountaintops Sway away

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antikythera_mechanism A heavier piece with a mid-eastern vibe (not unlike 'Sahara'), with a catchy chorus, an unusual instrumental interlude, and switching gears more often than I can count... definitely not a boring song. However, if I had to rate it among the other songs of the album, I would put it in the middle of the pack. Great, not memorable. It would probably sound very good live as well.

Do you have 400 euros to spare? 😁 We are happy to release NOW our Nightwish x Pook Watches project. Here is what happened after Tuomas got an idea to make a mechanical watch following ancient theme of Antikythera machine which was originally made over 2.200 years ago. Tuomas and watchsmith Jani Ikonen from Kitee has known each other for a longtime. This is strictly highly limited edition piece, only 500 pcs shall be made. This was designed by Nightwish and Pook Watches watchsmith Jani Ikonen. Assembly shall be also made by him in Finland. Have you ever wondered what it would feel like to wear a piece of stage equipment used by Nightwish? Every watch comes with Yesterwynde- album, and special canvas strap which has handmade metal loop with NW signature, made from Nighwish stageused microphone stand. Yesterwynde watch and its design include some small mysteries to be solved known as ”easter eggs”. Some may be easily found, but some may be more difficult to solve. Hope you enjoy them, as much as we enjoyed putting them in place. PREORDER STARTS TODAY in www.pookwatches.com webshop. Have fun! https://official.pookwatches.com/en/product/preorder-pook-watches-x-nightwish-yesterwynde-limited-edition/ Yesterwynde`s story is a story of time itself. Our watchmaker Jani Ikonen comes from a little town in the Eastern part of Finland called Kitee. From Kitee also comes Nightwish and sometimes strange things do happen. Tuomas Holopainen from Nightwish and Jani Ikonen knew each other many decades ago while spending their youth in Kitee. Like so many other youngsters those days, both trained in local hard rock bands and played just for kicks and fun. Some even made demotracks for their personal amusement. But little did they know what the future would bring to them… Soon they became older, and Tuomas founded world famous symphonic heavy metal band Nightwish. Jani studied Horology and started to work as a skillfull professional watchmaker in his hometown. To cut a long story short, these two gentlemen from Kitee discussed whether they could do something interesting together, maybe a ’steampunk’ kind of a thing. Tuomas brought up an idea for a mechanical watch like the Antikythera device. To be honest, Jani was unaware that such a thing existed. Antikythera is regarded to be the oldest computer ever created. It is at least 2.000 years old, and made by the ancient Greeks. It was lifted up from the bottom of the sea and scientists around the world have tried, for a very long time, to establish an understanding of different functions of the device. It is widely agreed that at least it could predict the movement of sun and moon and maybe details of the constellations. So, in a little workshop in Eastern Finland, Jani started to build a watch following the concept of a device produced thousands of years ago. Jani and Tuomas spent a significant amount of time developing the idea forward, and after a while the shape of the watch began to appear. Some solutions that can be seen in the finished watch are the outcome of several stages of thinking and rethinking to find a better way to make the best watch possible. In the dial and other parts of the design, there are clear visible details which carry the theme of the Yesterwynde album. Therefore it was soon obvious that this watch should be called ’Yesterwynde’. In its design there are also details which are not so easily spotted and understood; the very meaning of the music and watch itself. These details could be called ”easter egg”- mysteries. The component and design choices serve meaning and also purpose. The movement of the watch is automatic, meaning that it will continue working for decades, and, if serviced regularly, may be passed along from one generation to another. The automatic movement takes the kinetic energy needed from the movement of the user – as long as you continue moving, the watch will keep working. The music of ’ Yesterwynde’ is the outcome of intensely focused and devoted work from Nightwish. Some may see this album as the highlight and end of a trilogy telling the great story of our relationship to nature and the incredible journey of humanity. Maybe that is the greatest story ever to be told, as huge as time itself. Therefore, this unique and beautiful timepiece is a symbol of the open hearted; so that the very idea of life and the pulse of the heart needed to keep living is highlighted, every day, as this watch is worn. --- Minor changes to visual design can be made during the production process of this design. We also want to kindly inform you that this watch and its design includes some small mysteries to be solved known as ”easter eggs” Some may be easily found, but some may be more difficult to solve. Hope you enjoy them, as much as we enjoyed putting them in place. Good luck! Each watch comes with Yesterwynde-album, and a special canvas strap which has a handmade metal loop with the NW signature, made from a Nightwish stageused microphone stand. Each watch is assembled personally by Jani Ikonen himself. Jani is also the designer of this limited edition design May this limited edition watch bring you life long joy and fun, wherever you may wander. Regularly serviced, this automatic movement watch shall be given from one generation to another.

New single from Xandria, and soon an EP! From the upcoming EP “Universal Tales” 9 tracks including 4 brand new songs, 1 newly recorded “Acoustic Film Score” version of “The Wonders Still Awaiting” and orchestral versions of the new songs. Release Date 22 November 2024 https://napalmrecordsamerica.com/xandria-universal-tales-digipak-cd-booklet.html "XANDRIA surprised absolutely everyone last year! After a long hiatus, German symphonic metal icons came back with not only a new line up featuring the fantastic Ambre Vourvahis, who impresses audiences with her talent ranging from rock grit, operatic highs and even growls, they also came back with their strongest album ever, The Wonders Still Awaiting (#9 on the Official German Album Charts). On the fresh sounding masterpiece, XANDRIA reinvented themselves by taking their trademarks to a whole new level and setting the bar for modern symphonic metal today. With the epic upcoming nine-track EP, Universal Tales, out on November 22, 2024 via Napalm Records, the unit presents four brand new majestic songs, underlining the band’s new defined versatility and impressive intensity. Each of the songs highlight a different facet of XANDRIA’s musical range, alongside a new recording and beautifully re-arranged version of the title track from their recent album, The Wonders Still Awaiting. From bombastic film score atmospheres, choir-and-orchestra-driven anthems to real Celtic atmospheres and instruments like fiddle and whistles, the songs blend both classic and modern metal influences. Universal Tales offers a wealth of discoveries, while singer Ambre Vourhavis explores new heights and depths in her voice, making her even stronger than on the last album. The former standalone single “Universal”, alongside an official music video is a statement in support of a free, open, and diverse society, standing against authoritarianism and religious fundamentalism. It is dedicated to Jina Mahsa Amini and all those fighting for freedom. “No Time to Live Forever” is about the apparent loss of reason in the world, and the rise of tribalism, fired by religious fundamentalism that seems to fight a last battle against enlightenment and the achievements of civilization. “Live the Tale” follows that theme, showcasing that despite dark clouds, humankind could head in a positive direction as there is so much yet undiscovered and so much potential in mankind to live the tale of its imagination. On “200 Years”, XANDRIA fully embraces their Celtic roots like never before and explores the realms of the well-known book and TV series “Outlander”. Accented by renowned violinist Ally Storch (Subway To Sally), mesmerizing violin merges with resolute drums and with the blockbuster-like atmosphere, immediately transport fans to distant realms, fighting for a free and fair world. The Universal Tales EP concludes with orchestral versions of the four new tracks and will be released just before the band embarks on worldwide tours with genre peers Sirenia and Delain in the fall of 2024 and spring of 2025. While Marco Heubaum once again oversaw the recordings as the producer, Jacob Hansen (Volbeat, Arch Enemy, Evergrey) handled the mixing and mastering." Track Listing: 1. No Time To Live Forever (new) 2. Universal (new) 3. 200 Years (new) 4. Live The Tale (new) 5. The Wonders Still Awaiting (Acoustic Film Score version) 6. No Time To Live Forever (orchestral) 7. Universal (orchestral) 8. 200 Years (orchestral) 9. Live The Tale (orchestral)

A new single, and an album announcement for Lacuna Coil: New single “Oxygen” out now. Our new album “Sleepless Empire”, out February 14th, 2025, is now available for pre-order. “Oxygen” is a powerful exploration of emotional struggle and inner conflict. The lyrics convey a sense of drowning in a toxic environment, both literally (in the video) and metaphorically, where attempts at salvation, represented by “oxygen” are somehow futile. This song encapsulates the feeling of struggling to break free from what holds us down, when the journey is filled with difficulty. It’s a raw anthem of vulnerability, resilience, and the courage to face what seems insurmountable. Having to stay in the water for so many hours during the video shoot was cathartic for me, the realisation that the pleasant sensation of floating could in an instant become dangerous and deadly if I wasn’t careful was very fitting with the song’s theme.” - Lacuna Coil, October 2024

Floor in a long interview on The Charismatic Voice. They discuss some of the technical side of voice performance. Also how Floor dealt with recording the new album only 6 weeks post-partum. I'm not sure what is Floor alluding to when she says that 'we gave a fake reason' why they're not touring anymore (1:21:10), and that it's for personal reasons. I thought nothing else was said about their decision than 'personal reasons' right from the start?

"Things have always been ****ed up." - How death, cancer and a whole pandemic helped make Yesterwynde the most optimistic Nightwish album yet By Dave Everley ( Metal Hammer ), 23 September 2024 https://www.loudersound.com/features/nighrwish-yesterwynde-feature-2024 Despite an unbelievable amount of personal setbacks, Nightwish rallied to make one of 2024's best metal albums. Here's how Tuomas Holopainen was a teenage misanthrope. Growing up in the small Finnish town of Kitee, he had the regulation all-black wardrobe and the soundtrack to match. “I did not use to be an optimistic person when I was younger,” he says. “I loved black metal and all that. But I started to come to the realisation that things have always been fucked up, but we’re still going for the better despite the horrible things that are going on in the world.” We’re sitting in a suite in an upscale Berlin hotel, as mid-morning traffic flows along Potsdamer Platz several storeys below us. Literally as we talk, unthinkable things are happening all around the world: war, abuse, torture, murder, wilful destruction of the climate. The grim realities of humanity in 2024, basically. But right here, right now, all that seems a long way away. Not because Nightwish’s keyboard player and band leader is in epic denial mode, but because his band’s 10th album, Yesterwynde, is charged with emotion: hope, beauty, positivity and, yes, optimism. It’s an unexpected choice on more than one level. Aside from the rolling catastrophe that is the 21st century, Nightwish themselves have been battered by turmoil over the past few years. Their last album, 2020’s Human. :II: Nature., was released during the first, intense throes of the pandemic, scuppering their plans to tour it. When they did return to the road in May 2021, it was without longtime bassist Marko Hietala, who cited a mixture of long-standing depression and disillusion with the music industry for his decision to leave the band. On a personal level, things have been no less turbulent. In 2022, singer Floor Jansen revealed that she had been diagnosed with breast cancer (she was given the all-clear following surgery). In June 2023, the singer – pregnant with her second child – collapsed with exhaustion following a Nightwish show in Finland, prompting the cancellation of two subsequent solo gigs. Amid all this, Tuomas’s father, Pentti Holopainen, passed away in 2021. Other bands may have buckled under the battering of the last few years, but Nightwish – and specifically Tuomas as their chief songwriter – have taken a different path. Rather than wallowing in trauma, Yesterwynde pushes back against it. The 12-track album covers a lot of emotional ground across its 69 minutes, but the overwhelming sense is that, honestly, everything is going to be OK. “Yesterwynde has a very optimistic vibe to it,” says Tuomas. “It celebrates life and humanity and mortality. The important things.” Yesterwynde begins and ends with the sound of an old film projector starting up and winding down. It suggests a movie is playing out in between. What exactly that movie is, Tuomas Holopainen isn’t letting on. “It’s something different for everybody,” he says, smiling but evasive. Musically, Yesterwynde is everything we have come to expect from Nightwish, only more. One song, the hyper- dramatic An Ocean Of Strange Islands, features over 600 studio tracks and sounds like it. Another, The Children Of ’Ata, was inspired by the real-life story of a group of teens from Tonga stranded for 15 months on a remote island in the Pacific, and features five indigenous Tongan singers. Elsewhere, Yesterwynde features two separate choirs – one classical, one kids – and three different orchestras, all recorded in London’s prestigious Abbey Road Studios, naturally. There are no side-long epics – only two tracks, An Ocean Of Strange Islands and first single Perfume Of The Timeless, stretch beyond eight minutes – but it still feels bigger, bolder and more grandiose than anything else out there right now. But amid the dramatic power and intricacy, there’s the emotional core that sets Nightwish apart from every corset-clad knock-off that has followed in their wake. That emotion is conveyed by both the music and Floor Jansen’s career-best vocal performance (as on the two other Nightwish albums she’s been involved in, the Dutch native is joined on singing duties by multi-instrumentalist/resident Brit Troy Donockley). Loss, grief, the existential fragility of humanity and the hope it inspires: it’s all there. There’s one problem. Literally seconds before we step into the lift to go up to meet Tuomas, a rep for Nightwish’s label makes it clear that he will not talk about the death of his father. On the one hand, this is understandable, even admirable – privacy is a scarce commodity these days, and there’s something to be said for not laying everything out for public consumption. On the other, it’s frustrating – death and birth both play into the big, interlocking themes of Yesterwynde, namely the passage of time and the unfolding of history, and how both make us aware of our own mortality. This is clearest of all on the album’s closing track, Lanternlight, a moving yet celebratory lament for those who are no longer with us. ‘Gone is the hurt, the wait / Gone is the warmth of day,’ Floor sings. And later: ‘To the meadows I go / I’ll be waiting for you.’ Tuomas won’t say whether it was inspired by the death of his father – “I lost something very dear to me a few years ago, and this song was born out of that emotion,” he offers opaquely – but it’s hard not to join the dots. “The major theme of the album is time – going back in time, recognising your own mortality,” he says. “Connecting to the past.” The past seems appealing, given how shitty the world is at the moment. “Yeah, it is,” he concedes. “But it’s also incredibly good in many ways. And in many ways it’s better – the innovations of science and medicine, the child death rate... A small example: would you rather go to the dentist today or a hundred years ago? “I want to emphasise that I’m not immune to the bad stuff that’s going on in the world. I’m aware of it and I do everything I can to help. But I think it’s good for our mental state to recognise the good stuff. And I think that we have the chance as a species to survive and get together. That’s the core message, the essence, of Yesterwynde.” Like so many things, Yesterwynde was born out of the pandemic. The seeds for the album were sown after the tour in support of Human. :II: Nature. was postponed due to Covid. “Suddenly I had nothing to do,” says Tuomas. “So I thought I’d better start writing songs for the next Nightwish album.” For Floor, the experience of making her third Nightwish album was unlike that of making Human. :II: Nature. or its predecessor, 2015’s Endless Forms Most Beautiful. “It was different for me,” she says. “Not bad, not at all, but different.” It’s a few weeks after we met Tuomas in Berlin. We’re sitting backstage at Muziekgebouw, a concrete concert hall in the Dutch city of Eindhoven, where Floor is due to play a show in support of her 2023 solo album, Paragon, later this evening. She’s not alone: her eight-month-old baby daughter, Lucy, is here too, unknowingly sitting in on the interview and letting her mum know when she’s hungry. Just like many things that emerged from the pandemic, Yesterwynde began in isolation. Tuomas began writing the songs at home in Finland while his bandmates were busy dealing with their own lives. The rest of Nightwish knew he was writing something, but they didn’t know what. “He didn’t email us saying, ‘This is what I’ve written today,’” says Floor. “He doesn’t like sharing snippets, he likes to share the whole thing. But we knew he was inspired.” The first time Floor heard the new songs Tuomas had written was during Nightwish’s festival run in the summer of 2022, after touring had properly resumed. “Imagine us all gathered in a hotel room, everybody has brought a drink or two, or three, sometimes the minibar is emptied,” says Floor. “Tuomas would play us the music – we didn’t listen to all the songs at once, that would’ve been too much. He’d explain what the songs were about – he’d start off by telling us very little, letting the music speak for itself, but he’d start to go into the depths of what inspired him.” At this stage, there were no vocals on the record, just piano melodies in their place. But Tuomas would sometimes sing along as the demo played. Floor made voice recordings on her phone to help her understand what the songs were about and ensure she could connect with the emotions in them. “I’m sure he hopes I never put them on the internet,” she says playfully. Floor’s personal circumstances meant the recording process was different too. Her pregnancy meant she was unable to join the rest of the band at the campsite in Kitee they’ve used for several albums now to rehearse the songs for Yesterwynde. It also meant she recorded her vocals at home in Sweden, where she lives with her husband, Sabaton drummer Hannes Van Dahl (Tuomas was there for the sessions). “I was pregnant, and before that there was the cancer, and then I had my baby and I was just really, really fucking tired, so I wasn’t there like I had been in the past,” she says. “The connection to the album is much less than it was before, because we haven’t been spending as much crazy time together as we usually would. That doesn’t mean I don’t give a shit – quite the opposite – but I’m still growing into what it means, and what it means to me.” What song hit you the hardest the first time you heard it? “The last song on the album [Lanternlight] hit me the most,” she says. “When I heard that the first time – he explained what it was about, this song he wrote for his father – it went straight to my heart. It was so beautiful, even in demo form. I sat there crying.” Even without the pandemic, the last few years have been a rollercoaster for Floor. There was her well-documented diagnosis with and subsequent recovery from breast cancer, followed by her pregnancy. It culminated in her collapse from exhaustion following a Nightwish show in June 2023, while pregnant (thankfully, both Floor and her unborn daughter were fine). Two solo shows were cancelled in the wake of the latter, though no one would have blamed her if she’d walked away from it all for good. “No, no, I just had to quit for a couple of months,” she says, meaning the heavy workload. “Did I ever think of quitting for good? No, never.” Hearing her talk, it sounds like Floor is in a unique position: a key part of Yesterwynde, undoubtedly, but also someone with a little distance, who is still learning its deeper meanings. What does the album mean to her right now? “To me, it’s a continuous awareness about the beauty of the planet we’re on and the positivity of us as a species. We get all this negative feedback about killing the planet and hurting each other, and all of that is unfortunately true. But there’s also a lot of beauty to it – humanity has achieved amazing things throughout history, and we should remind ourselves of that. That is sometimes forgotten in the speed of the life we live today.” For all Yesterwynde’s against-the-grain optimism, Tuomas Holopainen is as aware as anyone of the grim realities of the world in 2024. That was brought home in the wake of Vladimir Putin’s illegal invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, when there were fears that Russia’s neighbour, Finland, could be next. “Not fear, but an awareness,” he counters. “I haven’t felt afraid, not once, even though I live less than 10 kilometres from the Russian border. But we have such a good defence that he is not going to come after us.” He seems equally unflappable when it comes to matters closer to his band. Earlier this year, original Nightwish singer Tarja Turunen – who was acrimoniously and very publicly fired from the band in 2005 – and former bassist Marko Hietala reunited to tour together and release a joint single, Left On Mars. If it feels like a slap in the face for Tuomas, he hides it well. “Honestly, I don’t care at all,” he says. “It doesn’t move me in any direction that they have found each other. They can play and perform as many Nightwish songs as they want, it doesn’t bother me one bit.” Have you spoken to Marko since he left? ‘A couple of times.” Are you on good terms? "Yes. There’s no bad blood between us. His leaving was his decision. I was actually quite taken by the fact that in the first interview he gave after he left the band, he said, ‘Don’t anybody dare to put this on Tuomas. This was my decision.’” You’ve talked about the passage of time. Do you miss the friendships you once had with Tarja and Marko? “I remember the best of times we had, with Tarja and Marko. I’m filled with nostalgia and warmth when I think about the latter half of 2004, for example, which was one of the best times Nightwish ever had, right after the release of the Once album and the European tour. It was just wonderful. But my life is in such a good place at the moment that it’s no more than a whiff of nostalgia.” That sense of nostalgia is threaded through Yesterwynde, linking the past to the present. But what about the future? For Nightwish, that future seems to be tinged with a degree of uncertainty. In April 2023, they announced in a statement that the band would not be touring their next album – a huge deal for a band whose epic live shows match the grandeur of their music. That decision still stands today. Tuomas is insistent that there will be no live shows in support of Yesterwynde, though he politely but firmly refuses to reveal why. “The reasons are personal, we’re not going to go into it, but it was something that had to be done for this band to continue,” he says, cryptically. “There’s no bad blood between the members, nothing like that. We just have to take a long breather.” Are there any plans to do anything around the album? A live stream? “We will have something planned, which is not playing music but something else.” Which is? “I can’t say, because we don’t know right now,” he says, unconvincingly. “But there are still things happening.” Backstage in Eindhoven a few weeks later, Floor is equally unwilling to divulge the reasons behind the decision, though she seems to have a slightly different view of it. “The whole idea of not touring... it’s not mine,” she says. “I wish we could continue, but it’s a mutual decision. Everything with Nightwish, we’ve done with 120%, but if you don’t have the energy to do that, it’s better to take a break.” Not having to tour for months on end does have its upsides. Tuomas says he’ll spend the time working on a new record from Auri, the side-project featuring his wife Johanna and Nightwish’s Troy Donockley. Floor will likewise use the opportunity to spend time with her family and work on her second solo album. Both insist that the lack of a tour in support of Yesterwynde doesn’t mean that Nightwish are coming to the end of the road. Tuomas points to the fact that they’ve just signed a new deal with their label, Nuclear Blast, as “evidence there are going to be more albums in future”. “I’ve seen a lot of reactions, people drawing conclusions,” says Floor. “Making an elephant out of a mosquito, as the Dutch say – making something much bigger than it actually is. It’s not the end of the band, I’m not going to leave, nobody’s angry at each other. There’s a lot of drama been added to this – it’s bad enough that we’re not playing, but there’s nothing more to it.” In many ways, making such a monumental album as Yesterwynde, and then opting not to tour it, is a very Nightwish thing to do. This is a band who have always followed their own path, even – especially – when it’s flown in the face of popular trends. They’ve watched nu metal, the NWOAHM and the mid-00s emo scene rise, fall and rise again while their own career has followed an unbroken upwards trajectory. But Nightwish exist entirely in a universe of Tuomas’s own creation. Ask him if he listens to Sleep Token or any of the crop of modern bands currently taking metal in interesting new directions, and he shakes his head. “No. I don’t listen to music at all anymore, practically. I haven’t for 10 years. I enjoy silence much more these days. Maybe I had an overdose of it for the first 35 years of my life. I’ve heard of the bands you mentioned, but I don’t actively listen to music at all. Though I just heard that My Dying Bride are coming out with a new album. I’ll definitely check that out,” he adds wryly. Earlier, he’d talked a little more about the imaginary movie that starts and finishes at either end of Yesterwynde. Or, more specifically, the one that runs in his head. “It’s a very unique one,” he says after a moment’s pause. “I’ve come to realise how incredibly lucky we are to be alive. It’s ridiculous, the odds that we are all here. We should celebrate it.”

Another new song from Marko in Finnish, be aware that this one is... different. 🤔😁

I didn't remember this Tarja video, and there's certainly a visual parallel, but I doubt this is anything more than coincidence. I can't believe that anything Tuomas creates today is informed by his past relationship with Tarja. I may be wrong, but I doubt he's even following anything that Tarja or Marko for that matter are doing in their solo careers!

Yeah, I think Tuomas mentioned that 'will it be heavier' has become a sort of joke, and that it would be the first thing that people would comment on every time NW would release new music. Anyway, I don't think Yesterwynde is much heavier that what came before. There are a few heavy moments, but overall I think it's very diverse, and there are a lot of classical, slow or sweet moments which make for a balanced album rather than a heavy one.

Floor & Tuomas talk about the new Nightwish record on Thomann Music.

It's interesting that a Japanese band would have sought out Finnish techs to work on their product. I guess Finnvox is now globally famous. By the way, Mika Jussila keeps a detailed log of the albums he has worked on, that he updates every year or so. http://www.mikajussila.fi/en/music/masterings-all-records

Welcome back Stargazer/StarDragonX! I'm sorry your musician career didn't pan out, it's unfortunately not easy to make a living out of music anywhere in the world, except for a chosen few. Feel free to share your stuff here. You don't have to, but if you would like me to merge your two accounts, it's something I can easily do. Just tell me which name you would like to keep.

A new release from Amaranthe: 'Interference'.

Troy on A&P Reacts: Troy Donockley (Nightwish) Explains The Tapestry of "Yesterwynde" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9MWw27SpajI

Floor discusses the creation of Yesterwynde. She mentions that the decision to take a break from touring was made about two weeks after Floor discovered she had breast cancer, therefore in October 2022. It was then announced in April 2023, 6 months later.

The support act for the North American tour of Delain will be Edge Of Paradise, and I'm quite happy about their choice. Xandria is also their special guest. Looking forward to seeing all three bands!

I'm still absorbing all of it, but it's not the super heavy album some were expecting. There is heaviness, but there's a lot more too. It's a very creative and varied album, and it did (and does) take me many listens to appreciate it fully.

LYRICS: A mariner under a sky moonlit On an island of a crewless ship A few decades of immortality ahead A one-man crew for a one-way trip Islands, islands everywhere I keep my range with crowded sails My waves, they kiss every shore I land Steep cliffs will mock my waving hand Islanders, villagers, universal mariners Calling me, guiding me, monsters far beneath Hurricanes on the way, lunatic weathervanes Shipwrecked lovers on a faraway cay Passing by butterflies, fluttering for a day Jokers, jesters, Goddesses, hominidae Deep delicious blue beneath I'll steer wherever tomorrow is near Light a beacon so I can navigate Through the tempest, through the madness Light a homefire for the sad man with a begging hand Light a beacon so I can navigate Through the tempest following the quintet Ride on the highest wave Bring me to life To them who dance in the daylight Sail and seek The starbound quay Calling you, calling me To be a part of your story Here raining ash to cover the dead An island of the past wrecks Of you, of the endless sundown Hemlock meadows, deepest quicksand Empty harbor by a wasteland Mirrors, mirrors, everywhere For you of mad despair Friends, who were for a time Now grapes of sour wine Lords of a single fly Still, I rue no island of shared solitude You who glow in deepest woe Let it be, retiree, the water's fine Sail carefree Sail and seek The starbound quay Calling you, calling me To be a part of your story On these strange islands

From James Shearman: https://www.facebook.com/JamesShearmanConductor/posts/pfbid02BKMY6N1LT1AxRV8gPWqPCz1x3m5zYwbdmZz62dNtTkAaEadm3SAcbtADJvsBpN3jl Listening to Yesterwynde! I haven’t heard most of these songs since Tuomas and I recorded our orchestra and choir arrangements back in October last year. Yesterwynde has been a very immersive experience. When I took on the orchestra and choir arranging duties I knew it was going to be a lot of work and was only worth doing if I gave it the care and attention the songs deserved. And so over the summer of 2023 I worked on the arrangements with Tuomas. As usual, everyday life sort of goes on hold on a big project like this, you think about the music day and night, you think about what’s not quite right yet, and how you’re going to get it to the point that satisfies. Then quite suddenly, after everything is finally recorded and your work is complete, you and the people you have been working so closely with say goodbye and you get on with the next project. Month’s later (sometimes years) the album finally arrives for everyone to listen to. However, there is always a sense of trepidation for me as I listen to my work; “is it going to sound as good as I thought it did back when I was conducting the orchestra? Will the orchestra and choir be heard? Did I do too much/too little here and there”, etc etc. So here we are now with the release of Yesterwynde and it was time for me to listen. And…..I love it! The very special added bonus for both Tuomas and myself is that all the orchestral arrangements for the songs are also available to listen to as instrumental's, so hopefully fans will be able to enjoy and appreciate both the orchestra and choir arrangements, plus the performances from our outstanding London studio musicians and singers. I’ll be talking more about the arrangements for each song in future posts. Hope Nightwish fans enjoy the album and let me know your thoughts. Have a great weekend everyone. James.

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Third track from the album 'Yesterwynde'. LYRICS: Unearth a weave of a lost world Your fathers' voice no more unheard Sixty times to the sun and back I return Just imagine an awake tomorrow Humankind, reconciled, human child, undefiled Navigate, celebrate History, mystery, afterlife will arrive Outermost, reaches of human mind Labyrinth, navigate, animate Avatar of the tides In the end, to the stars Tools of mankind All odds defied This hour is ours Dare us dare From a brave old world, the days of yore An ancient orrеry reading the gods Aiming for truth, starbound, they saw Thе library burns, prophets are crowned Millenia of darkness for the fallow Humankind, reconciled, human child, undefiled Navigate, celebrate History, mystery, afterlife will arrive Outermost, reaches of human mind Labyrinth, navigate, animate Avatar of the tides In the end, to the stars Tools of mankind All odds defied This hour is ours Dare us dare From Lucy's prints To those on the moon And from the moon To the... Humankind, reconciled, human child, undefiled Navigate, celebrate History, mystery, afterlife will arrive Outermost, reaches of human mind Labyrinth, navigate, animate Avatar of the tides In the end, to the stars Humankind, reconciled, human child, undefiled Navigate, celebrate History, mystery, afterlife will arrive Outermost, reaches of human mind Labyrinth, navigate, animate Avatar of the tides In the end, to the stars

Gregorian-like choirs follow a movie reel sound effect, then Floor sings a short, soft verse. I am surprised at the tone of Floor's voice, one that I don't think I have heard her use before. This is the second album in a row where the music builds up very slowly at the start. During the Human Nature tour they skipped most of 'Music', probably on the grounds that the slow build-up doesn't make for a very exciting live performance. In the same vein I doubt that 'Yesterwynde' will ever make it to the setlist. However together with 'Lanternlight', which has about the same tone, they make apt bookends for this (loosely) concept album. Song #2 (An Ocean Of Strange Islands) would also have worked as a starting point to the album, in my opinion.

The intro piece to the album of the same name. LYRICS: (Out of the darkness And into the bright light We carry the ties That we bind to you) I am the broken blooming bough The countless sunsets of a lost world See me. See me? So alike we are, you and us, soon See me, See you On an island of a shipless crew.