We are sure that the name Auri doesn’t tell anything to you. Auri is the project of Tuomas Holopainen (main man of Nightwish) and his wife, Finnish singer Johanna Kurkela (they married in October 2015). Their debut album will be released soon, on March 23 through Nuclear Blast. The project also features Troy Donockley (guitars, Nightwish). The album’s first digital single, for the song “Night 13”, is now available. Below you can see the tracklist of the album, Auri’s line up and the official press release.
Line-up:
Johanna Kurkela: Voices, viola
Tuomas Holopainen: Keys, backing voices
Troy Donockley: Acoustic and electric guitars, bouzouki, uilleann pipes, low whistles, aerophone, bodhran, keys, voices
Album’s tracklist:
01. The Space Between
02. I Hope Your World Is Kind
03. Skeleton Tree
04. Desert Flower
05. Night 13
06. See
07. The Name Of The Wind
08. Aphrodite Rising
09. Savant
10. Underthing Solstice
11. Them Thar Chanterelles
Official Press Release
Echoes of another world resound from the depths of the legendary rabbit hole. Music diffused with moments of silence and escapist dream sequences, freed from time and earthly presence. Auri begun its life with three people, united through their shared need to hear a kind of a music which can’t be described by words alone. A magical kind of sound to be heard whilst falling down Alice’s rabbit hole. The first song born of this mindset, ‘Aphrodite Rising’, appeared in 2011. And slowly the earth has cracked open again and ten more tracks have emerged out of the soil’s dust. Thus the trio was formed. The Finnish singer Johanna Kurkela lent her unique voice, while Troy Donockley and Tuomas Holopainen [both Nightwish] cast their spells with various other instruments. Using selected guest musicians and friends, the album finally takes its ultimate form under the direction of sound engineer Tim Oliver, all within the pastoral splendor of ‘Real World’ studios in Southern England. Auri put the ‘drink me potion’ to its lips, grew to full size, and is now ready to slay the Jabberwocky. Hand in hand with Nuclear Blast, they lead their listeners into the shadows behind the mirror, and in spring 2018 their debut album will evoke ghosts of an ethereal sphere.
