TARJA TURUNEN Says Her 'Darker Side' Makes Her Write And Create Music

Former NIGHTWISH singer Tarja Turunen has explained the inspiration for the title of her forthcoming heavy rock album, "The Shadow Self", which will be issued on August 5 via earMUSIC.

Said Tarja: "I [came across] an Annie Lennox interview some time ago on the Internet, and I was reading about her telling about 'shadow self,' about a darker side of us all.

"Everybody, every one of us, we have a darker side, [and] we should probably just appreciate that it exists, but especially we artists, we get a lot of inspiration from our darker side. Many writers or artists in general, they write darker songs or they use it somehow. We don't probably even understand where all the darkness comes from."

She continued: "Since many years, I realized that I have a darker side in me, even though I still believe I'm a very positive person. But still, there is still darkness that makes me write music and create in general, and it affects everything that I do. I believe it's a beautiful darkness.

"And so, I found this interview of Annie, and it was very inspiring. She was just telling about our dark side, calling it as a 'shadow self,' and I said, 'Hmmmm… What a great title for an album!' I really felt like, 'That's it. That's my album title.' That is where everything comes from."

Turunen's video for the song "Innocence" can be seen below. The clip was filmed in Buenos Aires, Argentina with movie director Mariano Cattaneo.

"The Shadow Self" is now available for pre-order in various formats, including standard CD and special edition CD+DVD.

"The Shadow Self" track listing:

01. Innocence
02. Demons In You (feat. ARCH ENEMY's Alissa White-Gluz)
03. No Bitter End
04. Love To Hate
05. Supremacy
06. The Living End
07. Diva
08. Eagle Eye
09. Undertaker
10. Calling From The Wild
11. Too Many

While waiting for the release of "The Shadow Self", Tarja has yet another surprise for her fans: Turunen and earMUSIC have announced the release of the new album's prequel, "The Brightest Void". With over 50 minutes of new music, the extra album will sweeten the wait until August.

"The Brightest Void" was released on June 3 via earMUSIC as a CD digipak, LP+download code and as a digital download.

"The Brightest Void" features not one but three incredible guest artists: fellow Finnish star Michael Monroe, icon of the glam rock scene and former frontman of inspiring band HANOI ROCKS; Chad Smith (who doesn't need any further introduction) and a new mix of WITHIN TEMPTATION's collaboration "Paradise (What About Us)", carried out with Tarja and world-renowned sound engineer and producer Tim Palmer. The prequel presents Tarja's new single, "No Bitter End", as the album opener and furthermore shakes you with an incredible cover of Sir Paul McCartney's overlooked gem "House Of Wax" and adds a new twist to Dame Shirley Bassey's James Bond theme "Goldfinger".