Lohtu

Thanks to Anna from Ocean Souls (the official polish fanclub of Nightwish)

In May 2014 a song for the Live Aid ULS2017 project was released. It was the beginning of a great fundraising campaign that had its goal set for 3 million euros to help build a new pediatric hospital in Helsinki. The song itself was called Lohtu (Solace), and in its recording were involved many of the most famous Finnish music artists. 

The composer of the song was Tuomas Holopainen, and he also took part in writing the lyrics, alongside with Jurek Reunamäki and Jare Tiihonen. He took the inspiration for the song from a nostalgic look on the landscapes of his childhood and the idea that even though the world is going in the right direction, it is not yet ready. And the outcome is moving indeed: we have a piece of music that includes the characteristic keyboard lines of Tuomas, violins, and above all many vocals, with operatic sounding ones creating a culmination point in the whole piece. It is a sound that is really collective, peaceful, and full of hope.

Artists who took part in creating the music are: Cheek, Chisu, Jari Sillanpää, Jenni Vartiainen, Jesse Kaikuranta, Johanna Kurkela (now Auri), Jorma Uotinen, Juha Tapio, Lauri Tähkä, Lauri Ylönen (The Rasmus), Lilli Paasikivi, Matti Salminen, Pekka Kuusisto, Peter Franzen, Riki Sorsa, Samu Haber (Sunrise Avenue), and Samuli Edelmann. Mastering was made in Finnvox studio, well-known to the Nightwish fans.

The music video was created by Dome Karukoski, and he not only included all the artists within it but also took some video clips submitted from people all around Finland to give the whole project even more of a feeling of a collective work.

The whole project culminated in a collective concert in June 2015, that was broadcasted live on MTV, and managed to collect almost 40 million euro for the case, which was nearly a quarter of the funds needed. The New Children’s Hospital was officially handed over on May 18th, 2018