Devin Townsend Outlines Plans for Next Several Albums (Including The Moth!)
Devin Townsend, always thinking waaaaay ahead, his creative spirit forever unbridled, has taking to Twitter to share plans for his next several albums, including his experimental quarantine companions The Puzzle and Snuggles, his next traditional DT album, Lightwork, and an ambitious project he’s been teasing for years called The Moth.
A quick recap of where things stand right now:
Let’s start with The Moth because it’s the one we know the least about at the moment despite it being on the burner the longest. You may recall that all the way back in 2017 Devin started talking up a symphony about “dicks and vaginas and death” which he estimated would cost $10 million to fully realize the way he envisioned it. That’s The Moth! And it’s still in the pipeline, albeit last.
Lightwork is the more traditional album — at least by his standards — which Devin expects to release in spring 2022. Producer GGGarth Richardson (Rage Against the Machine, Mudvayne, Nickelback, etc.) is behind the boards for that one — the first time Devin’s worked with an outside producer — and, in his latest update, he shares some thoughts on what that process has been like.
Finally, The Puzzle and Snuggles will see the light of day soonest, on October 8. He has previously described The Puzzle as a “more a collaborative, multimedia art project that acts as a stopgap between Empath and the next record,” a “highly orchestrated” effort that “gave me a chance to purge and be completely creatively free” during the pandemic. Snuggles, meanwhile, is “meant to be something you listen to in order to feel better… Puzzle is chaos, Snuggles is calm,” he says, continuing, “The whole project is meant to express that I think there is a light at the end of this dark tunnel we’ve been through.”
Now, with all that out of the way, here’s what Devin had to say on Twitter yesterday, August 24, about all of the above:
“I’ve never worked with a producer before, and the idea was for ‘Puzzle’ and ‘Lightwork’ to be opposites, so where ‘puzzle’ was a chaotic, independent art project, ‘Lightwork’ is meant to be streamlined with a producer
“I had feared that experimenting with having a producer would dilute it, but man… it’s really good… really happening, and the sounds are quite magnificent.
“After these two projects, I’ll dig in to ‘The Moth,’ (which is a musical) so it’s almost like checking off a ‘to do’ list of creative ideas…
“By Christmas time, after the ‘Infinity’ stream, I’ll be able to take a breath for a few months… but not yet :)
“Life is short and I’m very grateful for the ability to do what I do. I just really want to do all these things…and ive had the opportunity lately, so thanks for the support in making them happen.
“‘Puzzle’ is strange and artsy, ‘Lightwork’ is streamlined and melodic, ‘The Moth’ is super ambitious…one leads into the other…
In short: lots to look forward to for Devin fans in the coming year. Buckle in.
