Nightwish’s Jansen found album a challenge

Nightwish frontwoman Floor Jansen says she found recording the band’s upcoming album a challenge.

They’ve been working on the follow-up to 2011’s Imaginaerum and will launch the as-yet-untitled album next summer via Nuclear Blast.

And the vocalist, who took over singing duties from Anette Olzon in 2012, says keyboardist Tuomas Holopainen and bassist Marco Hietala really pushed her on what will be her first record with the group.

She says: “Tuomas challenged me to use everything I had to offer: high, low and soft – but definitely the lower stuff. It’s something I haven’t explored much and he wrote parts where I had to use this completely.

“I’m very proud of it and happy I could do it this way because it’s the first time I’m singing on an album I didn’t write myself, so Tuomas and Marco wrote things that really challenged me.”

The band have finished recording the album and will now begin mixing. And Holopainen says their studio time went so well that they’re now ahead of schedule.

He adds: “This session has been unbelievably smooth – we’re actually ahead of our schedule. Incredibly, Floor has sung about two songs a day, Marco cut the final bass parts in one and a half days, and Emppu did the rhythm guitars in a week.

“I think it’s because everything was so well rehearsed and we tried to work more like a band.”

The band previously revealed atheist Professor Richard Dawkins would guest on the album, while new member, multi-instrumentalist Troy Donockley, said the record will startle fans.

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