NIGHTWISH keyboardist and main songwriter, TUOMAS HOLOPAINEN, spent most of the year 2013 writing and producing his solo album, The Life And Times Of Scrooge. It will be released on April 11th via Nuclear Blast.

A special track-by-track trailer for the new album can be seen below:

In the video interview below, Tuomas gives the most detailed insight on his first musical attempt as a solo artist.:

'A Lifetime Of Adventure', from the upcoming solo album, was released worldwide on February 7th. The official video for the track was directed by Ville Lipiäinen and includes Mika Jussila's photos of Tuomas Holopainen and Don Rosa in the recording studio.

Commented Tuomas: “The director, Ville Lipiäinen, and me went through some options of how to approach the video and soon agreed to shoot a sort of `making of` - clip of the song. The idea of someone dressing up as Scrooge McDuck, and then filming him digging gold and riding an emu on an Australian desert felt just a tad corny. Ville then followed us to London`s Angel Studios and later Petrax Studios to film some shots from the orchestra-, vocal-, guitar-, and piano sessions. The hero of the video is Don Rosa himself. His presence and facial expressions always put a big smile on my face. I hope you`ll enjoy this adventure as much as we did!”

The cover artwork on both the single and the album is by Don Rosa, the illustrator of Disney's Duck characters. Nightwish FanPOD is available on iTunes App Store and Google Play.

The Life And Times Of Scrooge is based on writer and illustrator Don Rosa’s graphic novel, The Life And Times Of Scrooge McDuck, which tells the life story of Scrooge from his early years in 19th Century Scotland and follows him in his worldly adventures through the 1950s. When Holopainen read the story nearly twenty years ago, its immense depth, detail, wit, and emotional power resonated with him instantly. While the initial spark of creating a soundtrack for the graphic novel came to him in 1999, the idea took fourteen years to come to fruition.

Recorded from August to October, 2013 at Angel Studios in London plus various locations around Scotland and Finland, The Life And Times Of Scrooge will include elements of the classical & folk genres in the vein of VAUGHAN WILLIAMS, MICHAEL NYMAN, JAMES NEWTON HOWARD, and ENYA. The album will feature artwork by Don Rosa (pictured below with Tuomas).

Pip Williams – who collaborated with Tuomas on the Nightwish albums Once (2004), Dark Passion Play (2007), and Imaginaerum (2012) – will once again assist with orchestral arrangements for The Life And Times Of Scrooge.

The album will feature four lead vocalists: Finnish singer Johanna Kurkela, Tony Kakko of SONATA ARCTICA, Johanna Iivanainen, and Alan Reid.

Musical guests include: The London Orchestra, the Metro Voices choir from London, Nightwish's Troy Donockley (uilleann pipes, low whistles, bodhran), Mikko Iivanainen (guitars, banjo), Teho Majamäki (didgeridoo), Jon Burr (harmonica), and Dermot Crehan (solo violin).

The Life And Times Of Scrooge tracklisting:

'Glasgow 1877'

'Into The West'

'Duel & Cloudscapes'

'Dreamtime'

'Cold Heart Of The Klondike'

'The Last Sled'

'Goodbye, Papa'

'To Be Rich'

'A Lifetime Of Adventure'

'Go Slowly Now, Sands Of Time'

Bonus Track:

'A Lifetime Of Adventure' (Alternate Version)

Check out four album trailers below:

Part 1:

Part 2:

Part 3:

Part 4: