Nightwish’s Elan wasn’t first single choice

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Mainman Tuomas Holopainen wanted to use Edema Ruh as lead track from upcoming album instead

Nightwish have revealed that recently released single Elan wasn’t their first choice to promote their upcoming album Endless Forms Most Beautiful.

And mainman Tuomas Holopainen says he’d decided on track Edema Ruh but was talked into changing his mind by band members Marco Hietala and Troy Donockley.

He says: “Choosing the single from the album was really easy – it was clear it was going to be Edema Ruh. But after two weeks of rehearsing, Marco and Troy asked, ‘How about Elan for the first single?’ They liked the chorus and Marco thought it was a better song.

“At the at point we had already started writing the script for the video specifically for the other song. The question was, ‘Can we still change the single at this point?’ We could, and Marco and Troy were right.”

The track was leaked online ahead of its official release earlier this month, with Holopainen saying he and the band felt “violated” by the move.

Endless Forms Most Beautiful launches on March 30 via Nuclear Blast and they’ve lined up a show at London’s Wembley Arena on December 19. They dropped into TeamRock Radio last week to talk about the album. The show is now available to hear on demand.

Endless Forms Most Beautiful tracklist

  1. Shudder Before The Beautiful 2. Weak Fantasy 3. Elan 4. Yours Is An Empty Hope 5. Our Decades In the Sun 6. My Walden 7. Endless Forms Most Beautiful 8. Edema Ruh 9. Alpenglow 10. The Eyes Of Sharbat Gula 11. The Greatest Show On Earth
Scott Munro
Scott Munro
Louder e-commerce editor

Scott has spent 35 years in newspapers, magazines and online as an editor, production editor, sub-editor, designer, writer and reviewer. Scott joined our news desk in the summer of 2014 before moving into e-commerce in 2020. Scott keeps Louder’s buyer’s guides up to date, writes about the best deals for music fans, keeps on top of the latest tech releases and reviews headphones, speakers, earplugs and more for Louder. Over the last 10 years, Scott has written more than 11,000 articles across Louder, Classic Rock, Metal Hammer and Prog. He's previously written for publications including IGN, Sunday Mirror, Daily Record and The Herald, covering everything from daily news and weekly features, to tech reviews, video games, travel and whisky. Scott's favourite bands are Fields Of The Nephilim, The Cure, New Model Army, All About Eve, The Mission, Cocteau Twins, Drab Majesty, The Tragically Hip, Marillion and Rush.