Storytime

The first few seconds feel like the beginning of a fairytale — a twinkling, theatrical introduction that signals immediately this will be a journey rather than a song. The momentum builds quickly into something stadium-sized, choir and orchestra and electric guitar arriving together in a rush of joyful noise that bypasses cynicism entirely. Anette Olzon sounds genuinely exhilarated here, her voice brighter and more open than the role demands, as if the material has caught her up in its own enthusiasm. The lyrical premise is a love letter to storytelling itself — to the power of myth and imagination to rescue people from the smallness of daily life, to the specific magic that happens when a song or a story makes a listener feel less alone in the world. It's self-referential in the best possible way, a band that built their identity on exactly this kind of escapism writing an anthem about why escapism matters. "Storytime" was the first single with Anette as lead vocalist on the *Imaginaerum* album, and it functions almost as a thesis statement — here is what we believe music is for, here is why we make it. Put this on at the start of a long journey, when you need something that will fill the car or the headphones with the feeling that what lies ahead is worth arriving at.