Floor Jansen says Nightwish remain on temporary hold with nothing planned, as she announces album Hytress.
Floor Jansen has confirmed that Nightwish remain inactive with no return date set, three years after the band stopped touring. Speaking to Thomas Vogel of Germany’s Sonic Seducer, the singer was asked whether anything was coming up.
“ No, there’s nothing planned. That is the thing with Nightwish — we’re on a temporary hold. But there’s no communication about when something’s gonna happen,” she said (as transcribed by Blabbermouth).
The remarks come as Jansen announces her own second album.
Nightwish said in 2023 that they would step away from live work indefinitely, and did not tour Yesterwynde when it arrived in September 2024. Multi-instrumentalist Troy Donockley explained the reasoning to “Rock Hard Greece” shortly after that album came out.
“Well, I was part of the decision, as we all were. We weren’t forced into the conclusion, but we were pointed in the direction of it quite early on, even before the pandemic. We realized that we were in danger of burning out of doing too much. So we made the decision, and extraordinarily, the decision to have this hiatus, this time off, is for all of us. It has no time limit. We have absolutely no plans at all for when we will bring the band out again to play live,” he said at the time.
He was careful to separate the decision from any falling out.
He added: “At the moment, we’re just trying to, I suppose, personally, for all of us, recapture our balance, recapture, I suppose, our sense of direction for the band. It hasn’t been easy — there’s been lots of personal problems — but I must stress that we’re an unusual beast, Nightwish, in that we actually love being with each other. It’s a rare thing for bands. A lot of bands, they’ll have separate dressing rooms and all that kind of nonsense, whereas we actually enjoy our own company. And we socially mix with each other even when we’re not working. We have fun with each other. Last year, Emppu [Vuorinen, Nightwish guitarist] and Tuomas [Holopainen, Nightwish keyboardist] came over to Yorkshire [England] and we went metal detecting for a week, just for the fun of it. Yeah, that’s what we do. And have massive fun doing it.”
Donockley pointed to the cycle itself as the problem: “That’s a major part of it, but when you take that with six people, all of them feeling the same way, and you take it out on tour for seven weeks, or you travel to South America, three weeks in South America, then you’re in Japan, then you’re in America for five weeks. And we’ve all got families — all of us have families. Floor has two tiny children. It’s gonna cause confusion, with the lifestyle.”
Donockley did offer a possible marker, while stopping short of committing to it.
“So, it’s not terminal. It’s an extended time off. But I can envisage some more live work probably in 2027, which is the 30th anniversary of the band. I should imagine we’ll do something live to mark that. We might do that.”
Jansen‘s comments suggest nothing has been arranged since.
Hytress, Jansen‘s second solo album, arrives on 15 January 2027 through REVAMP Music and Warner Music, following her 2023 debut Paragon. She announced it this week alongside the single “Bring Me Silence“, which follows “Run” from June.
“The world is constantly demanding your attention,” she said of the new track. “Sometimes it becomes so overwhelming that you can barely hear yourself anymore. ‘Bring Me Silence‘ is about that longing for space in your head and for clarity, a moment where all is quiet and you can breathe all the way to your belly again and feel satisfied and at peace.”
She added: “This song is one of the first ones we wrote for the new album. Musically, it feels very natural to me. Metal has always been an important part of who I am. Its power, directness, and intensity are deeply rooted in me as an artist.”
When the tour was announced in June, she set out where the record sits.
“I’m heading back out on tour in Europe! In 2027, I’ll be returning to club stages across Europe with my ‘Hytress‘ tour, together with my full live band. These new songs have been such a special journey for me, and I can’t wait to finally bring them to life on stage and share them with you. This music feels close to my heart. A little heavier, more direct, and deeply rooted in the sounds and influences that shaped me as an artist. I’m so excited for this next chapter and to experience it together with you.”
“Hytress” 2027 Tour Dates:
Europe:
- Jan 14 – Trix, Antwerp, Belgium
- Jan 15 – Le Bataclan, Paris, France
- Jan 16 – Electric Brixton, London, UK
- Jan 21 – Löwensaal, Nuremberg, Germany
- Jan 22 – Z7 Konzertfabrik, Pratteln, Switzerland
- Jan 27 – Roxy, Prague, Czech Republic
- Jan 29 – Progresja, Warsaw, Poland
- Feb 04 – Pustervik, Gothenburg, Sweden
- Feb 05 – Berns, Stockholm, Sweden
- Feb 07 – House Of Culture, Helsinki, Finland
- Feb 12 – TivoliVredenburg, Utrecht, Netherlands
- Feb 13 – 013, Tilburg, Netherlands
South America:
- Apr 22 – Santiago, Chile
- Apr 24 – Bangers Open Air, São Paulo, Brazil
- Apr 25 – Buenos Aires, Argentina
Yesterwynde was Nightwish‘s tenth studio album, released through Nuclear Blast in September 2024 and following 2020’s Human. :II: Nature.. It has never been played live.
Jansen first performed with Nightwish on 1 October 2012 at Showbox SoDo in Seattle, stepping in after Anette Olzon left, and became a permanent member the following year. Her first studio album with them, 2015’s Endless Forms Most Beautiful, reached the top ten in several countries. Bassist Jukka Koskinen of Wintersun was made an official member in August 2022, having toured with the band as a session player and debuted live in May 2021.
