Following months of hard work finishing the album, as well as an extensive European touring schedule that included two nights at London’s Royal Albert Hall, the first piece of new music taken from his much-anticipated new album has been released. Stream the track "Moonpeople" and pre-order Lightwork here.
The new album will be available worldwide on October 28 via InsideOut Music.
Below is Part One of a seven-piece interview where Devin Townsend shares some insights on recording Lightwork.
“Moonpeople” is the album’s opening track and 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, you can watch the video below.
As explained to the world from the man himself, 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.”
After a few exceptionally long years full of personal change and near manic levels of creative activity, Canadian musician Devin Townsend releases his follow up to 2019’s well received Empath in the form of his new release, Lightwork. 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) have 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 long-time 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 is the bedrock of this wonderful album.
Featuring artwork by frequent collaborator Travis Smith, Lightwork arrives in several editions including a Limited Deluxe Orange 3LP+2CD+Blu-ray boxset that includes both Lightwork & its companion album Nightwork on both CD & Vinyl, as well as a Blu-ray including 5.1 surround sound, album commentary & visuals, art-cards & 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.
Tracklisting:
"Moonepeople"
"Lightworker"
"Equinox"
"Call Of The Void"
"Heartbreaker"
"Dimensions"
"Celestial Signals"
"Heavy Burden"
"Vacation"
"Children Of God"
"Moonepeople" promo video:
Devin Townsend tour dates are listed below.
Tour dates:
February
21 - Oslo, Norway - Sentrum Scene
23 - Helsinki, Finland - House of Culture
24 - Tampere, Finland - Pakkahuone
25 - Oulu, Finland - Tullisali
27 - Stockholm, Sweden - Cirkus
28 - Gothenburg, Sweden - Pustervik
March
1 - Copenhagen, Denmark - Amager Bio
3 - Tilburg, Netherlands - 013
4 - Cologne, Germany - Carlswerk Victoria
5 - Lille, France - Le Splendid
7 - Leipzig, Germany - Werk 2
8 - Frankfurt, Germany - Batschkapp
10 - Zurich, Switzerland - X-tra
11 - Munich, Germany - Backstage Werk
13 - Dornbirn, Austria - Conrad Sohm
14 - Milan, Italy - Live Club
16 - Barcelona, Spain - Razzmatazz
17 - Madrid, Spain - La Riviera
18 - Lisbon, Portugal - Cineteatro Capitólio
20 - Toulouse, France - Le Bikini
21 - Marseille, France - Le Moulin
22 - Clermont Ferrand, France - La Coopérative De Mai
24 - Brussels, Belgium - Ancienne Belgique
25 - Stuttgart, Germany - LKA-Longhorn
26 - Paris, France - L'Olympia
28 - Bexhill-on-Sea, UK - De La Warr Pavilion
29 - Bristol, UK - Academy
31 - Manchester, UK - Academy
April
1 - Nottingham, UK - Rock City
2 - Newcastle, UK - University
4 - Wolves, UK - KK's Steel Mill
5 - Norwich, UK - UEA
(Photo - Paul Harries)
