Finnish outfit Nightwish have issued a statement regarding an online leak of their forthcoming single, Elan.

The song has surfaced in advance of its scheduled February 13 release via Nuclear Blast. It will be featured on the band’s eighth album, Endless Forms Most Beautiful, which will be out on March 30.

Nightwish alerted fans with a Facebook post identifying one source of the leak, which initiated an intense debate among readers.

The band explains: “Our intention was not necessarily to attack an individual person, but to raise awareness that spreading unreleased property through internet is not something that any artist would like to see happen. This is about our musical property and the abuse of it.

“This kind of thing causes irreparable harm to countless people working in the music industry worldwide. Not only for the band.”

Mainman Tuomas Holopainen further commented on the reaction with a statement encouraging fans to avoid the song until its official release on Friday.

Holopainen says: “Some of us like to stay neutral on issues concerning the internet, but I feel it only proper to remark on a quite remarkable situation. I saw that our first single Elan was leaked on the internet today, and I was quite baffled by some of the reactions I read. I was then asked to make a short statement, and the following is what I feel about the issue.

“The leaking of a full album, or just a single song in advance, is a huge blow to the wonderful mystery which is surrounding the impending release of our new music. We have deliberately cultivated this so as to give our fans an event; a, hopefully, powerful surprise.

“The passionate posts on the band’s Facebook page, which were done in the heat of the moment, were no doubt a honest reaction to the disappointment in someone deliberately spoiling a part of these efforts.

“With that in mind, do try to avoid listening to this ‘leak’ and any others for that matter. Just wait to hear it as it is supposed to be – a labour of love, the fruit of dedicated hard work and of the highest quality. The way we would wish to experience it ourselves.

“This is a delicate issue, which seems to be very hard to address in the right way. We seriously hope everyone would calm down now. There´s a lesson to be learned for all sides here.”

Nightwish will launch a North American tour in support of Endless Forms Most Beautiful on April 9 in New York City. The trek will include a 24-hour cruise as part of their 2015 world tour plans.

And today the band confirmed a gig at London’s Wembley Arena on December 19 – their only UK show for 2015. Holopainen says: “Who would have thought about headlining at Wembley Arena one day when we were starting our UK touring history from the downstairs of the legendary Astoria Club in London over 10 years ago. This truly is a dream come true for us.”

Tickets for the Wembley show – which includes support acts Arch Enemy and Amorphis – go on sale at 10am on Friday, February 13 via LiveNation.