Canadian singer, songwriter and producer Devin Townsend will release his new album, “Lightwork”, on October 28. The LP’s first single, “Moonpeople”, which is the album’s opening track, arrives with a video filmed by Devin himself while he was in Spain earlier this year. The first in a three-part series of clips, it can be seen below.
Devin comments: “Hey all 🙂 this is Devin. Welcome to my newest album ‘Lightwork’.
“The last few years have been a lot, and this is the music that I wrote during that time.
“In essence, ‘Lightwork’ is a bit more of a ‘song’-oriented album. A bit more direct and simpler than a lot of what I’ve been doing lately.
“After ‘Empath’ and ‘The Puzzle’, things kind of swung back in the direction of more traditional arrangements for ‘Lightwork’. Lyrically, It kind of hints at the struggles of the last few years but with an eye on putting the pieces back together again.
“We chose ‘Moonpeople’ as the first of three video releases from this project, The three videos share a theme, so I think that’ll work.
“‘Moonpeople’ is the first song on ‘Lightwork’ and acts as a sort of mission statement for the album. Post pandemic… kids are now teens… 50 years old, who am I now? Beyond any platitudes or delusions, who am I now that the smoke is clearing and what do I want to do, and who do I want to be, moving forward?
“The term ‘Moonpeople’, in my mind, refers to those in society that kind of ‘watch’ things rather than being directly involved in it. Maybe the Moonpeople are more introverted rather than extroverted? In any case, it functions as a song on the album that will set the stage for the dynamic nature of the material that follows it.
“So here you go. Song one.”
Assembled from a barrage of material written during the pandemic, “Lightwork” — and its companion album of B-sides and demos, “Nightwork” — represents Devin at this stage of his life, post pandemic, and his reflections on what he (and many of us) all gone through.
For “Lightwork”, Devin decided to see what would happen if he included a producer (an experiment he has been excited to attempt for some time) to help guide this selection of material. He chose longtime friend Garth “GGGarth” Richardson to help bring this idea to fruition, and through a difficult (but wonderful) process, the next Devin album have been delivered.
The name “Lightwork” represents the music, as well as the act of creating music, as a kind of “light in the dark” while trying to navigate the seemingly endless challenges that life can often present. When things seem like there’s no way out or that a situation becomes seemingly insurmountable, the connection to music, family, and creativity became a light in the dark that ended up in this wonderful album.
Featuring artwork by frequent collaborator Travis Smith, “Lightwork” arrives in several editions including a limited deluxe orange 3LP+2CD+Blu-ray box-set that includes both “Lightwork” and its companion album “Nightwork” on both CD and vinyl, as well as a Blu-ray including 5.1 Surround Sound, album commentary and visuals, art-cards and extensive perfect-bound booklet, all contained in a lift-off lid box. There will also be a Limited 2CD+Blu-ray artbook, limited 2CD digipak, gatefold 180g 2LP+CD, standard CD jewelcase and digital album.
Devin will embark on a European headline tour in early 2023.
Photo credit: Paul Harries