As the saying goes, not all that glitters is gold. But then again, not all that is gold necessarily glitters. It was this idea that struck Finnish singer Tarja Turunen as she began work on her seventh solo album, In the Raw. The album is available for pre-order here and here.
Tarja has shared the new song "Dead Promises," in which her stunning voice is matched by a thunderous guitar. Listen here and here.
Please note that the album includes a different version of this song that will feature guest vocals by Björn "Speed" Strid of Soilwork.
"I really like how the guitar sounds: in your face," Tarja says. "If I'm singing powerfully, I need something powerful behind me so that I don't feel like I am left alone."
Three years on from her last album, 2016's The Shadow Self, In the Raw finds Tarja and her beautiful voice sounding as stunning as ever. Working with many of the same musicians and production team as before, the intention was to bring out the idea of rawness to match the feelings Tarja was having from the very beginning of the process.
The album finds Tarja going tapping into raw emotion and going to personal places in her lyrics. Opening herself up more than ever before, she says she was left feeling naked by her honesty, but also pleased at where she had gone with her words.
"Gold, we think, is something polished and perfect, sophisticated, a luxury. But in its natural state, it's a raw element," explains the singer. That sentiment encompasses the music on her upcoming album: a combination of sophisticated and refined orchestration, choir, and her classically trained voice with a raw, dark heavy musical core. Simply put, In the Raw is a gold-plated work of wonder. The concept of gold and its raw state extends to the album's artwork. It finds Tarja in St Michael's Cave, Gibraltar, framed in vivid color and golden sheen.
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