Nightwish - Passion meets perfection lipiec 2007

czarnycharakter

Nightwish - Passion meets perfection

After the dark clouds above the band loomed to a thunderstorm and all the tension erupted with the split-up with singer Tarja the rumours about the band's future and the vacant position at the microphone kept circling around insistently.

But now all critics will be shut up: With 'Dark Passion Play' Nightwish are back more impressive and convincing than ever - resonate with the wonderful voice of the Swede Anette Olzon. Mastermind Tuomas Holopainen reports on the search of a needle in a haystack, immortal beauty and dark feelings.

"The music of 'Dark Passion Play' has been finished quite some time ago. At the end of 2005 I started writing new songs. In about four months I succeeded in writing fifteen songs. We rehearsed the whole summer and finally recorded the music. Everything was totally finished, just a few orchestra passages were missing and of course the vocals. I had all the vocal lines in my head but finding a singer was not that easy because there was much more to suit than just the voice", Tuomas tells.
"We were in the studio for over ten months; only the mixing took 75 days. Of course there was a lot to arrange which justified this effort. But I have to admit that it is always difficult for me to regard a record as finished. It is never perfect; you could always make some things better. Those are just little details which the listener probably won't even recognize in the end but it is my desire to transform my music as perfectly as possible. At a certain state you just have to tell you that you have given all you can and the result is really, really close to perfection. Otherwise you could never stop", the songwriter tells and you can hear the passion for his work in each of his words.
For the sake of perfection 'Dark Passion Play' became the most expensive album which has ever been recorded in Finland and it has been more than worth it. So the music of genius Holopainen had already been recorded while the search of a new voice got into top gear. "We wanted to wait until the end, turn every stone and didn't want to decide for a singer earlier than necessary. So it was in January of this year when I called Anette and told her that there would be a lot of work for her in the next years."
But the road there was long and tough. "We received over 2.000 demos and listened to all of them. We sent a CD with instrumental versions of a few of our songs to about fifty applicants and finally there were less than ten women which we met to get to know them on a more personal level", Tuomas summarizes the long search. Anette Olzon, the 35 year old woman from Sweden, was among the first applicants and already convinced the band back then. Tuomas explains the criteria they were looking for: "Of course the new singer of Nightwish has to have the same vocal range as Tarja to be able to perform old songs as well. But we placed value on the fact that we wanted the new voice to have a totally different acoustic colour than Tarja's voice. Tarja sang the Nightwish-songs perfectly in her own way; to engage a clone of her would have never come close to her. Tarja's voice was like a cold, dreamy morning in the mountains; dramatic and weighty. We considered that a fairytale-like, narrating but in-depth voice which can be soft and pressing at the same time would be in contrast to Tarja's work. Anette has exactly this kind of voice; that was clear right from the beginning. But a new band member has to have much more than that. You have to understand each other; the character is the most important aspect because the best musician is worthless when you cannot find a common basis. Finding a marvellous voice is already difficult enough but to find this one in combination with a person you are able to form a friendship to is something quite rare. At the moment I'm really happy about how everything turned out. It is a process; first we have to get used to each other. But up to now I can say that we always had a good time with Anette; she is very open and friendly and shares our humour. I can very well imagine that we are going to have a lot of fun but only time can give a clear answer to that. After all there is so much that we will experience together; we have never performed together, have never been on tour. But we were in Los Angeles together to shoot the video for 'Amaranth' and it worked very well."
You can really recognize the keyboarder's happiness about the smooth teamwork. At the moment he can just guess how much the live performance will change: "I cannot imagine that Anette will dress in extravagant gothic-robes; she is just not the type for it. Anette is Rock 'n Roll and I can very well imagine that you will recognize this on the stage. Inside of her a fire burns, that's for sure. It is completely left to her what she is going to do. As long as she feels comfortable and doesn't dissimulate it is absolutely fine. You must not overrate the looks. If she decided to colour her hair blond or to become bald I would have no problem with it as long as she stays loyal to herself. But I have to admit that I do not have any worries concerning that because so far Anette always proved to have quite a good taste in styling. We can talk about everything and that is just a good feeling."
Tuomas emphasizes again and again how good the cooperation works - also on the interpersonal level; a hint that the situation must have been quite difficult during the last months with Tarja. But the subject 'Tarja' seems to be considered as completely finished - in good terms. "We are out of touch. But of course we will send her our new album. She was so kind to send us her Christmas-album as well. I have no bad feelings when I think of her. Our positions are clear and what happened is history now."
But the happenings of the year 2005 made significant contributions to ‘Dark Passion Play’. “According to my feelings it is the darkest Nightwish-album of all time. There was a bunch of negative energies which had an influence on my song-writing and especially on the lyrics but that is just natural. The music of an artist inevitably reflects the current situation in life and the year 2005 was a hard trial for me in many aspects – so because of that the album has a gloomy undertone. With my compositions I built a microcosm of my own where I often escaped to; you can hear it in the songs. But some good friends of mine didn’t hear the dark aspect of the record; it definitely has a lot to do with interpretation and Anette’s soft voice brightens the overall picture with its lightness anyway”.
‘Dark Passion Play’ is not a precise title. “The title of the record is wonderful. I was absolutely happy when it came to my mind. This happened quite late; originally the album was supposed to be called ‘The Poet and the Pendulum’ – like the first song. Everyone can interpret the title in his or her own way and should really think a bit about it. I will keep my personal meaning to myself. But it is a fact that you can read it as ‘Dark Passion Play’ or ‘Dark Passion Play’ which is a big difference.”

People who start worrying now because of the overall comprehensibility of Tuomas’ lyrics can breathe again because the song-lyrics are less encrypted. ‘For The Heart I Once Had’ is a typical Nightwish-song which deals with the forever lost, transfigured childhood. “I wasn’t sure until the very end if this song would really end up on the record; it is not one of my favourites.”
On the contrary the superb opener lies at Tuomas’ heart. “It is a brilliant song and I bothered my head about its position on the album for a long time – after all it has a length of thirteen minutes. Generally, epic songs with this length are put at the end of a record but I didn’t want to do that since I have a low opinion of such clichés. Additionally the last song on the album, ‘Meadows Of Heaven’, is the perfect ending, like a peaceful return to your home. At the moment it is the song which impresses me the most and it concludes the whole 75 minutes of the album – it just had to be at the end.”
The single ‘Amaranth’ is a brilliant earworm which you cannot stop listening to. “The name comes from the wonderful, fantastic flower; it stands for perfection, everlasting beauty and goodness.”
The song ‘The islander’ which is sung by Marco Hietala gets under your skin as well. Tuomas remembers the development of the song: “We were sitting in our dressing-room before a show and Marco played a song on his acoustic guitar to me which hadn’t found a use in his second band Tarot. I listened to the melody and started thinking immediately of an old man, a lighthouse keeper and his life on the island. These pictures perfectly fit the Celtic sounding instrumentation and have no deeper meaning. These lyrics are a story and simply do not have to be scrutinised.”

‘Dark Passion Play’ has a lot of different facets; musically, vocally and lyrically it is a fascinating journey into the world of fantasy. “On this record there is more of everything which means a challenge for the listener – but it should not become boring for him”, Tuomas laughs and adds: “You should form an opinion only after you have been listening to the album for at least ten times.”
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The new album – ‘Dark Passion Play’

Beyond question: The split with Tarja Turunen was a shock for the whole music-world. Some people even predict that the band was about to fold. But now all eyes are set on Finland: With a beat of the drum Tuomas, Marco, Emppu and Jukka discount the critics! ‘Dark Passion Play’ – this is Nightwish in perfection. More perfect, more harmonic and more moving than ever before the album marks a turning point in the history of the band and leaves no question unanswered. The very pretty Swede Anette Olzon breathes life into Tuomas’ majestical compositions with her crystal clear voice. She sings so enchantingly, with a wonderful lightness, discreetly and charmingly that every comparison to her predecessor lapses. Cosy shivers run down your skin from the thirteen minutes long opener ‘The Poet And The Pendulum’ over the hit-single ‘Amaranth’ to the wonderful ballad ‘Eva’ and Marco’s brilliant ‘The Islander’ – this album mesmerises completely. ‘Dark Passion Play’ is a superb piece of art which promises unbridled passion with every little note.