Tuonela Magazine recently had the opportunity to chat with Tuomas Holopainen (Nightwish) and Johanna Kurkela about the upcoming release from Auri, Those We Don´t Speak Of. Check out the interview below.

On the album release: 

Tuomas: "It’s about time. We’ve been sitting on this album for nearly a year. It was mixed already in October last year."

Johanna: "It’s been a long way."

Tuomas: "But for some reason, the record label thought that this album sounds more like autumn than spring. So they were really adamant that it should be postponed until September to be released. We were like okay, whatever."

On the difference between Those We Don't Speak Of and the Auri debut:

Johanna: "I don’t think we really think much about it. We just let the music come and then we just look at it, 'Well, this is what we made.' There are some darker shades for sure but then again there was “Savant” [on the first album].

Tuomas: "Music is great because it’s always sort of subjective for their makers and the listeners as well. When I think about the first album, songs like you mentioned 'Savant' or 'Underthing Solstice', they are, to me, quite dark. On this album, songs like 'The Duty of Dust', 'Those We Don’t Speak Of', or 'Scattered to the Four Winds', even 'Fireside Bard', the ending of that song is quite dark, so I don’t know. Both of the albums have their lighter and darker moments."

Johanna: "We never plan ahead."

Tuomas: "Never ever. That’s the freedom that I was just talking about. Auri needs to be pure freedom, no conflict, no egos, no restraints, and we have to give credit to the record label, again, to Nuclear Blast. They never ever asked us about any samples or demos or anything. They just say that to the album, master it, deliver us the master copy and that’s it. That’s pretty rare."

“The Valley” is the second single taken from the upcoming Auri album II- Those We Don´t Speak Of, which will be released on September 3 via Nuclear Blast Records.

Tuomas Holopainen comments on the track as follows:  "'The Valley' is an ode to homecoming. It`s about things worth a long wait, and about all the wondrous waypoints on the road. And, while you`re wandering on that road, why not write a little tune to keep you company. A tune most delicate and hard to catch, but willing to reveal itself once you`ve made your journey, and have almost reached home.”

II - Those We Don't Speak Of will be available in the following formats:

- CD digipak
- Earbook including CD and 36 booklet art pages
- LP red gold
- LP red marbled (NB mailorder exclusive, limited to 300)
- LP transparent + green marbled (Levykauppa exclusive, limited to 300)
- LP white + red marbled (UK exclusive, limited to 300)
- LP silver (band shop exclusive, limited to 300)
- LP blue marbled (US exclusive, limited to 300)

Pre-order or pre-save the new album here.

Tracklisting:

"Those We Don't Speak Of"
"The Valley"
"The Duty Of Dust"
"Pearl Diving"
"Kiss The Mountain"
"Light And Flood"
"It Takes Me Places"
"The Long Walk"
"Scattered To The Four Winds"
"Fireside Bard"

"The Valley" lyric video:

"Pearl Diving" lyric video:

Lineup:

Johanna Kurkela | voices, violin, viola, keys
Tuomas Holopainen | keys & backing voices
Troy Donockley | guitars, bouzouki, mandola, ulleann pipes, low whistles, aerophone, bodhran, voices, keys

(Photo - Mikko Linnavuori)