The wait is over! Watch the official Within Temptation video for their new single “Paradise (What About Us?)” featuring Tarja, now, through the following links:
http://vevo.ly/swfAf7 or http://www.myvideo.de
Enjoy!
Tarja’s recently released “Colours In The Dark” (August 30th, 2013) is definitely one of the brightest albums in rock in 2013. Praised by worldwide media as “simply fantastic!” (Sonic Seducer, GER),“Tarja’s strongest solo release to date” (Classic Rock Prog, UK), “Overwhelming, surprising and massive” (Aardschok NL), ”best solo album so far” (Soundi, FI), “a superb performance” (Rock Hard, IT), and “by far and away the finest that Tarja has sounded for the best part of a decade” (Powerplay, UK), the album proves to be a milestone for heavy symphonic rock.
The response from media and fans contributed to make “Colours In The Dark” a worldwide chart success: a few days after its release the album has already collected five Top 10 entries (# 5 in Finland and Russia, # 6 in Germany, #8 in Poland and # 9 in Czech Republic). And this is just the beginning..
Coinciding with the successful first chart week, earMUSIC is happy to announce ‘500 Letters’ as the second single taken from “Colours In The Dark”. The song will be released as a strictly limited CD single and download at the end of September.
‘500 Letters’ is in many ways Tarja’s most private song ever. With its very personal song writing and delicate topic, it offers a great emotional insight into the artist herself.
Touching the sensitive topic “stalkers”, Tarja allows her fans a closer look into her thoughts. ‘500 Letters’ is open to interpretations – being half reality, half fiction.
The heavy, yet highly melodic song gets stuck in your mind after the first listen with its haunting melody and touching, exceptional vocals. Despite its very catchy key note, the bombastic sound still is full of darkness and dramatic structure and takes Tarja’s song writing one step further.
Regular updates can be found on Tarja’s official album website www.tarja-coloursinthedark.com where Tarja personally blogs to keep in touch with her fans.
Tarja will perform songs from her new album on her forthcoming tour.
“Colours In The Road 2013-2015”
17.10. Olomouc – Hala University Palackeho (CZ)
19.10. Berlin – Huxley’s (GER)
20.10. Wieze – Metal Female Voices Festival (BE)
22.10. Hamburg – Docks (GER)
23.10. Dortmund – FZW (GER)
25.10. Karlsruhe – Festhalle Durlach (GER)
26.10. Munich – Backstage (GER)
27.10. Vienna – Arena (AT)
29.10. Pratteln – Z7 Konzertfabrik (CH)
30.10. Nuremberg – Löwensaal (GER)
01.11. Leipzig – Haus Auensee (GER)
02.11. Cologne – Gloria (GER)
04.11. Paris – Le Bataclan (FR)
2014
03.02. Toulouse – Le Bikin (FR)
04.02. Marseille – Espace Julien (FR)
06.02. Lyon – Le Transbordeur (FR)
07.02. Bordeaux – Le Krakatoa (FR)
09.02. Lille – Le Splendid (FR)
09.11. Kraków – Klub Studio (PL)
10.11. Łódź – Klub Wytwórnia (PL)
12.11. Katowice – Mega Club (PL)
13.11. Warsaw – Palladium (PL)
Read what international media says about “Colours in the Dark”
Germany
„…. This would be the only true soundtrack to „Alice In Wonderland“. Colours In The Dark is just extra ordinary, simply fantastic!” (Sonic Seducer)
“After Nightwish also Tarja manages to bring her music to a soundtrack-level. […]
Pompous choirs, surprising moves and modern guitar riffs included.” (Metal Hammer)
“Catchy hooks meet story telling compositions.Yes ! – this is Tarja at her best. […]
‘Colours In The Dark’ is a tremendous album, studded with plenty details…” (EMP)
„The ten inovative compostitions all sound modern and courageous, sparkle with variety and wealth of ideas, reaching new musical spheres.” (Nuclear Blast)
“The queen is back!“ – (Rock It!)
UK
„….. Colours In The Dark is the sound of a very talented artist at the top of her game…. It is by far and away the finest that Tarja has sounded for the best part of a decade (Powerplay UK, 9/9)
“… Tarja’s work really feels like something beyond the normal realm of rock music, or opera styling. …This will please fans both old and new, lovers of both genres and many with just a curious ear. This is a real pleasure to listen to.” (Rebelicious Mag UK)
“… Colours InThe Dark” must surely be Tarja’s strongest solo release to date.” (Prog Magazine)
“.. With this album, Tarja has reached a level of sustained maturity and dynamism with her song writing and singing whereby nothing is beyond her capability. […]. Most striking of all is the opening song “Victim Of Ritual” – simply stunning! (Fireworks)
Belgium
“It should be more than obvious now that Tarja can continue her way without “Nightwish” and with “Colours In The Dark” she adds an excellent new chapter to her solo career. […] .”Colours In The Dark”, besides being a vocal fest, contains many musical highlights. (Rocktribune 80/100)
The Netherlands:
‘Overwhelming, surprising and massive. With this album Tarja shows everybody, and Nightwish especially, what she’s made of. Respect!’ (Aardschok 95/100)
“It’s the combination of variation, strong songs, a great sound and of course her fantastic voice that makes Colours In The Dark the best Tarja album to date.” (Lust For Life Magazine, 4/5)
Finland
“Colours In The Dark is luckily Tarja’s best solo album so far.” (SOUNDI)
France
“Colours In The Dark finally confirms an impressive maturity and solidity” (Rock Hard, 7/10)
Sweden
“The Finnish singer will never be able to get away from being compared to Nightwish, but while the ex-colleagues are drifting towards a more epic adventure/film musical direction, Tarja is more geared towards a romanticized, science-fiction like landscape. Which surprisingly enough fits both her and her toned down soprano-voice excellently.” (Sweden Rock gave, 7/10)
Spain
“Tarja gets it again with her very personal winner formula” (LH Radio)
“The best version of Tarja really shines in Colours In The Dark, perhaps her Best album to date”
(TNT Radio)
USA
“Over an hour of interesting and emotional music that will definitely take you away from your usual routine. ..This album is magic….”(Sea of Tranquility, 4/5)
“Tarja’s best work to date.” (Wickedchannel.com, 8,5/10)
“Colours in the Dark is a must have release for any Tarja fan, and any fan of Symphonic Rock/Metal. This release is filled with excellently crafted songs that are quite catchy and engaging in nature, making it the best album Tarja has released… so far. (Infernal Masquerade)
“…a strong album, possibly one of Tarja’s best. Recommended.” (Dangerdog, 4/5)
“Tarja Turunen’s voice is a force of nature, dominant and dominating. The former lead singer for Nightwish fills her lungs and turns Colours In The Dark into the fury of the four winds. From the bombastic opener ‘Victim of Ritual’ to the exquisite closer ‘Medusa,’ in which she shares her hurricane-proof microphone with Blue October’s Justin Furstenfeld, Colours In The Dark is a colossal battle royale of operatic soprano, keyboard orchestra and Alex Schlopp’s ENGL amplifier madness. (About.com, 3.5/5)
“On this album, Tarja shows the diversity of her vocal range and the complexity of her voice, at the same time presents a more personal and intimate approach to her life through her lyrics.” (Theageofmetal.com)
“This is a solid album from start to finish that will please fans of the Tarja of old.” (Blogcritics)
“..Colours In The Dark, in fact, follows the trend of showing her creator’s talent outside of the scene that made her world famous…. She’s in crescendo in her solo career, and rarely fails bringing to the scene exquisite music. Altogether, Colours In The Dark is a welcome addition to every Tarja addict’s collection…” (Metalstorm)
Read moreOnly two two days left until the release of ‘Colours In The Dark’. Get listening and pre order your copy now!
Click here for the “Colours In The Dark” Pre-Listening!
Start the video and click on the questions you like! Pre-order the album now! Click here!
(The interactive interview is not working on mobile devices.)
Read moreTim Palmer has produced and mixed albums for a huge selection of classic and alternative artists, from Robert Plant, David Bowie and Tears For Fears to Ozzy Osbourne, Goo Goo Dolls and U2.
In 2001 Palmer was nominated for a Grammy for his mixing work on U2’s All That You Can’t Leave Behind. Now living in Austin, Texas, he has built his own mix room and continued producing and mixing for Jason Mraz, Blue October, David Cook and many others. Tim has been moderator for 2 years at SXSW, and a guest speaker for the Recording Academy.
Tim Palmer started his career at Utopia Studios in London during the early 80’s where he mixed the number one single ‘Died in your arms tonight’ for Cutting Crew. In the latter half of the ’80s, Palmer became a producer, and his keen ears and technical knowledge contributed to groups such as the Mighty Lemon Drops, the Mission, Texas, and Tears for Fears.
Tim produced ‘Now and Zen’ for rock icon Robert Plant, a US top10 album, and David Bowie’s debut LP with Tin Machine. To close the 80’s Palmer mixed ‘TEN’ for Pearl Jam, which went on to sell over 14 million albums, and got in the top 50 best album sellers in US history.
You can read here a short interview that Tim kindly answered for this web page.
1) Name your favourite Tarja song from “Colours in the Dark “, if you have any and why.
It’s tough to pick just one favorite song from the album, so I’ll pick two. The first is the song ‘Never enough’, it’s classic Tarja, great vocal, strong chorus and yet it rocks hard without losing all the 3 dimensional textures that are such an important element to her sound.
Secondly I choose ‘Lucid Dreamer’ as I am a sucker for the dramatic and melancholy side to her songs. This song is a real journey and is the perfect late night headphone experience.
2) How has it been to work with Tarja?
This is the second time that I have mixed an album for Tarja, I also mix most of the recent live albums and 5:1 mixes.
I always enjoy the process, which is basically in 2 parts.
The first part I work alone in my studio here in Texas getting the songs into shape ready for the arrival of Tarja and Marcelo, her co-producer. At this stage the mixes are about 75% completed.
The second part is more fun, now that Tarja is at the studio, we can work on all the fine-tuning and final details to the mixes. We work hard, eat, mix and generally have a great time.
These days most albums are mixed without ever meeting the artists. I miss that one on one, social side. I am glad that with Tarja we are able to achieve this.
3) You have been working with several amazing singers and charismatic figures like Robert Plant, Ozzy Osbourne, Bono to name just few. How do you see Tarja as a singer?
Tarja is without question a fabulous vocalist. I am so glad she has taken from her classical roots and created such an eclectic style to her recorded music. I think many rock fans would never have experienced a soprano like Tarja if she was brave with her music choices. The combination of her vocal style with the heavily textured rock sound is unique.
4) How would you describe Tarja’s music?
Tarja’s music is Cinematic, orchestrated rock.
5) Could you tell us something about the technical side of mixing Tarja’s album?
The biggest challenge with her music is to make it all count. Every thing must be heard. The vocals are obviously super important, but so are the big guitars, loud drums, and driving bass, then lets not forget the subtle percussion, loops, and keyboard textures. It takes a while to get it right, but when the story unfolds correctly, it’s very rewarding. I like the challenge.
Dear victims of ritual!
Thank you for the amazing amount of spectacular photos you sent me. You obviously put a lot of effort in making them so I truly appreciate it. Nevertheless it was not easy for me to make the decision of the best five, so I decided to choose fifteen! Anyway, you are all winners!
I chose fifteen photos that impressed me for different reasons. Whether they are more artistic, beautiful, odd or somehow moved me.
Thank you again for taking part in this! I had a lot of fun in watching the photos.
With love, Tarja
The tour with Beauty and the Beat is over for now, but we have plans to continue the tour in places that we haven’t been able to visit yet in 2015.
The concert in Mexico City was very nice. We played in a beautiful, old theatre and the Mexicans seemingly enjoyed the program. I received lots of gifts once again, majority of them for my little daughter, obviously! 🙂
Again I had some trouble in bringing all the presents back home after this long tour, but managed somehow. It was nice to spend few days in Mexico City after a really stressful promotional tour for “Colours in the Dark” in Europe, even though the sun didn’t appear too many times 🙁
After Mexico we flew to Lima, Peru where I had been only once before with my band. This time we got to spend a week in Lima and got to do some sightseeing and shopping 😉 I was really considering going to visit Machu Picchu, but I felt that the last months of travel with the baby has been enough and wanted just to stay quiet in our comfortable hotel with her. Hopefully I’ll get to visit the place one day.
It was very humid and foggy weather in Lima for several days until the concert morning when I woke up and finally saw the sun!
The concert was held in an open amphitheatre so the weather was perfect for the day. Anyway it was cold, so I had to find warm clothes in the last minute for the performance. And since we were in Peru, I found a beautiful poncho!
Many people came to see us from far away, even from different neighbourhood countries, so it was a pleasure to perform in Lima this time a totally different kind of concert than the last time.
I want to thank Mike, Pete and Tommi for a beautiful tour! We had a great time.
There is no better place than home, right? We were all very happy to return and specially Naomi to see her homeland 🙂
With love, Tarja
Read moreIn the last couple of weeks I have been extremely busy making interviews and promoting my new album. The days have been really long, but I received excellent feedback from the media. For the first time I see that people are starting to understand where I am going with my music and that makes me really happy.
I was recently in London and Paris. All I saw was the hotel room and the restaurant and got out only for some photo shootings. I just love both of these cities very much. It felt odd not to have even time to make any shopping! 🙂
We also filmed a new music video in Berlin for my single “Victim of Ritual”. Yesterday I received the final version for approval and I must say that I am really happy with it.
There were around 40 people working in the production and here you can see some of us having our lunch break.
The video is a 5:50 minutes story, but it doesn’t feel that long at all 😉
We will already show you a trailer of the video on Wednesday June 26th, but here are few more images until then.
Today we will start rehearsing with the orchestra and choir for the upcoming Beauty and The Beat show in Mexico DF. I hope it all goes fine.
Even though we arrived to Mexico few days ago, the jet lag is still bothering us. It has been fun to wake up every morning at 05:00 am…
With love, Tarja
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