song Perfume Of The Timeless

[Fugazi]

Perfume Of The Timeless (💿 Yesterwynde, 2024)

 

 

CREDITS:

• Mixed by Mikko Karmila & Tero Kinnunen at Finnvox Studios
• Mastered by Mika Jussila at Finnvox Studios

Freedivers:

• Guillaume Néry (Footage from “One Breath Around The World” filmed by Franck Seguin )
• Tommi Pasanen
• Pavlos Kourtellas

Filmed by:

• Eki Halkka
• Ville Lipiäinen
• Masa Mason
• Tommi Pasanen

Drone Kitee:

• Hannu Putkuri

Visual effects:

• Eki Halkka

Floor Jansen costume by:

• Outsa Höylä

Make up by:

• Alex Laulajainen

Production assist:

• Piritta Lipiäinen

Natural History Museum at Tring team:

• Joanne Cooper
• Ian Watson
• Catherine O’Carroll
• Hailey Bickham
• Claire Walsh

Edited & Directed by:

• Ville Lipiäinen

 

LYRICS:

Something from the earth came

Something for the world

Mosaic of broken fragile pieces

Tesserae of the deceased

Born to a novel world

 

Endless chain unbroken

Silent clocks rewinding

My song it is for mankind

Embers to the stars

 

We are their heir, dust on their palm

We are because of a million loves

We´re the perfume of the timeless

Last sighs on a death bed

Time set

For a curious ghost

 

Lives lived plain and epic

Of eudaemonia

12 score and 1 chain of lives unending

Welcoming as my offspring

Walks me to the weave

[Fugazi]

Ok so I had a few days to listen to the new song repeatedly and let it sink in.

I like it. I think it's different enough to feel fresh, yet definitely borrows a lot of elements from the EFMB-HN songwriting toolbox. I don't think there's anything really new music-wise, but it's not a rehash of old songs either.

The movie-score intro makes for a dynamic start and could be used as a show-opener. It reminds me of music by Two Steps From Hell and similar movie scores... before the song devolves to a TGSOE-like interlude of a few ominous notes and animal cries (in the video version only). Globally, if I was to compare POTT to any other previous song, I would say it's most similar to TGSOE in the way it tells a story and switches from one mood to another.

I read a lot of complaints about Floor's voice being low in the mix during the chorus, but it was made clear that this is the way it was intended, and I don't mind either way. I think Tuomas has come up with catchier choruses, but it's fine and not the highlight of the song IMO.

I love the transition to the breakdown, and also love how they layered the drums & guitar heavy with staccato choir voices and Floor's operatic voice floating above everything else. I think this will sound great live. Oh wait... 😒

And then (to me) a surprise at the very end, Troy repeating the chorus in an Auri-like section. Not everybody likes Troy singing, but I think his gentle, deep voice is a great counter-point to Floor's power vocals.

Again, I'm sure this song would sound great live whenever Nightwish take to the road again. And it could maybe even work as an acoustic number.

This is Ville Lipiainen's fourth video with Nightwish. While it uses a lot of recycled footage from other sources, has some uneven CGI work, and looks more like a lyrical video -- only without the lyrics -- than a real video, it's fine. But there's one nagging question, was this actually meant as a video for POTT or rather some other song? I mean, this is a song about mankind and our long chain of ancestors, yet the video goes full National Geographic 'wonders of the sea' plus World Trust Fund 'show us some endangered animals'... It's generic and doesn't really serve the lyrics. The single cover picture, the black and white picture with Floor 'shopped in, made me expect something else altogether.

Anyway, the music itself is great and I'm looking forward to the next single! 🤘