The maestro that is Devin Townsend has unveiled the first single and music video from his upcoming album Empath. Genesis is truly something to behold, and we don’t think we should even attempt to describe it, you just need to hear it. The video is truly something else as well. We reveal all below:
Now that you’ve experienced it for yourselves, here’s Devin himself to explain a little bit more about Genesis:
“Hey all 🙂
It’s with great pride (and a healthy dose of trepidation) that I can finally present to you a song from the Empath record. In each album cycle there is the dilemma over which track we ‘lead’ with, not only to get people excited, but also to give an accurate overview of the project.
As the musical nature of Empath shifts from track to track, (from musical theater, death metal, prog free jazz and more commercial things) it was a hard decision. Some people wanted the relatively straightforward song ‘Spirits Will Collide’ while others wanted a more cinematic banging track like ‘Evermore’. We ultimately chose to go with the opening track ‘Genesis’ as it not only features around 5 different stylistic shifts (some quite jarring, to be fair 🙂 but also includes all three drummers, the choir, the orchestra, and basically the kitchen sink as well.
This song is ultimately about facing fear, as well as analysing one’s relationship with one’s past in order to progress. The record has an overarching theme of what I like to view as ‘hope’ in chaotic times. I have been working on this record for more than a year, and it represents a kind of shift for me in my personal and professional world that I am quite proud of. It’s the first time in quite a few years I have made an album like this, and I think if nothing else, Genesis represents the chaotic nature of the project (and the world at large currently) in the most accurate way I can do at this stage of life.
I’d like to thank the entire team of wonderful musicians and artists who helped me actualize this material, as well as Inside Out records and Northern Music for their help and support.
Mid-life-crisis-core!
Devin :)”
The rather fetching single artwork for Genesis can be found below:
Two days before the release of Empath on the 27th of March, Devin Townsend will take part in a very special screening of the making of Empath documentary (which is being released piece by piece in the week leading up to the release of the album) in London. Fans will be able to watch the documentary in full with Devin in attendance and he will answer questions from fans in attendance as well as providing a commentary to the documentary. Those who would like to get tickets can do so here – https://www.everymancinema.com/screen-on-the-green/film-info/devin-townsend-empath-documentary.
The first part of the documentary, which is presented as a series of phone calls, can be enjoyed below:
We will have plenty more from Devin Townsend before now and the release of Empath on the 29th of March!
