NIGHTWISH singer Anette Olzon has revealed in her latest blog that she still plans to release her solo album next year.

"I want to do that but I am still in the process of signing with a record label so before I know exactly what the plan is," she says. "I can't say any exact release date, but I would love to release it in May and that is what I aim for, but it might be later too."

In 2009, Olzon had been working on solo material with co-writers Johan Glössner and Stefan Örn. Olzon says she wants "10 or 11 songs" for the album.

Nightwish hit the studio in late October to record the follow-up to 2007's Dark Passion Play album. Guitarist Emppu Vuorinen is currently working on his parts. "We messed around with the amps for a day, trying different sounds, and I’ve now completed about half of the rhythm tracks," he updated this week. "It’s hard to say whether my job is 30% or 5% done, because if old signs hold true, the guitar parts just keep on increasing. Meaning that just when you’re about to pop open that bottle of champagne, you realize that, damn, this and that part still need something. In other words, having learnt something from previous sessions, I’ll keep the champagne on ice at least for another six months."

According to a recent update from Nightwish drummer Jukka Nevalainen, the songs on the new album "have again a massive variety and mood changes from lunatic circus to a hazy jazz club."

Singer Anette Olzon added: "I think it's a great and varied CD. The feeling in it are great and there are a lot of elements in it so I am sure it will have many different favourite songs for the listeners since the songs are so different in styles and sound. DPP is a great album and this one too, so I dont know yet which one I like more, but of course for me personally, this one feels better to do since the songs are more adjusted to my voice and my style."

As previously reported, Nightwish Management exclusively confirmed to BraveWords.com that a London, UK orchestra has been booked into the studio for February 2011, with an anticipated release no earlier than the fall, probably later in '11.

Watch BraveWords.com for updates on the progress.