Tomorrow (25th October 2024), Devin Townsend releases his new studio album ‘PowerNerd’, initially the first of a trilogy of albums however as he told Australian Musician, there will now be a 4th album in the series.
Devin Townsend’s career is one of many distinct eras. He’s been the leader of Strapping Young Lad, the lynchpin of the Devin Townsend Project and the co-architect of country duo Casualties of Cool, all while maintaining his prolific and lauded solo project. Now, the polymath’s newest era starts with ‘PowerNerd’.
Ahead of the release of his new album ‘Powernerd’, Australian Musician editor Greg Phillips caught up with Canadian singer, songwriter, guitarist Devin Townsend to discuss the making of the record.
Recently Devin presented the uplifting new single ‘Gratitude’, together with a video that follows Devin exploring the beautiful Canadian woodland. Watch it now here: https://youtu.be/1mnjfXmsEUQ?si=CKNjBvWms1W7Favz
Watch the previously released video for ‘Jainism’ here: https://youtu.be/IypFEGztl-4
Watch the previously released video for the title track here: https://youtu.be/8-we4aXo_NM
Stream the tracks and pre-order the album here: https://devin-townsend.lnk.to/PowerNerd
“It was a conscious thing,” Devin says of his brand-new album, the music on which he wrote in just 11 days. “I thought, ‘I’ve spent so much time overthinking every aspect of my work – what would happen if I didn’t?’ Maybe I would have the opportunity to be a bit more direct with what it is that I’m trying to do. I really wanted to see if I could cut through some of the meandering.”
However, that aggression is far from the only thing to come from PowerNerd’s 11 episodic tracks. ‘Dreams of Light’, by comparison, is an evocative and dynamic four-minute ballad. ‘Younger Lover’ calms down from an explosive opening to lush verses of synths and singing, whereas ‘Falling Apart’ adds texture after texture on top of a dulcet, acoustic introduction.
Where PowerNerd’s music was written in less than a fortnight, its lyrics were refined over a far longer period of time into a narrative about strength and healing. On ‘Falling Apart’, Devin commands himself to “keep the tension under control”. “You’ve got to believe that things will only get better,” subsequent song “Gratitude” powerfully declares. These uplifting messages even play into the record’s title.
Devin offers as a definition: “I would say that a powernerd would be somebody that has a tendency that society has deemed weak or not valuable, whether that’s empathy or being an insular person or an introvert, and turns that into a type of personal power. It’s like, ‘OK, yeah, I’m sensitive to this, that and the other thing, but man, I am going to pull through! I am going to do things with that sensitivity that are rooted in strength.’”
‘PowerNerd’ will be available on several different formats, including a Limited 2CD+Blu-ray Artbook (featuring the album, bonus tracks and Devin’s first ever Dolby Atmos mix), Limited 2CD Digipak in O-card, Standard CD, Gatefold 2LP & Digital Album.
The full tracklisting for the main album is as follows:
1. PowerNerd
2. Falling Apart
3. Knuckledragger
4. Gratitude
5. Dreams of Light
6. Ubelia
7. Jainism
8. Younger Lover
9. Glacier
10. Goodbye
11. Ruby Quaker
The album’s artwork was created by longtime collaborator Travis Smith, and can be seen below:
As well as express strength through adversity, PowerNerd will open the door to Devin’s immediate future. Its positivity and succinctness will soon be contrasted by follow-up The Moth – self-described as “orchestral, over-the-top, dark and uncomfortable” – and the “alien weirdness” of finale Axolotl…but then also (as he told us in our interview) a 4th album to be titled Ruby Quaker. The next two efforts have already been written, and together the series will express the mind-boggling range of this man’s musical talent.
DEVIN TOWNSEND online:
http://www.facebook.com/dvntownsend
https://twitter.com/dvntownsend
https://www.instagram.com/dvntownsend/
https://www.youtube.com/user/poopynuggeteer/featured http://twitch.tv/devin_townsend
https://www.cameo.com/devintownsend
INSIDEOUTMUSIC online:
www.youtube.com/InsideOutMusicTV