DEVIN TOWNSEND – ‘EMPATH’ out now; video for ‘Spirits Will Collide’ launched

DEVIN TOWNSEND – ‘EMPATH’ out now; video for ‘Spirits Will Collide’ launched

29th March 2019 0 By John Deaux

Canadian heavy music artist Devin Townsend releases his new album ‘EMPATH’ today, and to coincide with that, the epic video for ‘Spirits Will Collide’ has been launched.

Devin comments: “Here is the video for my Enya influenced, ‘commercial’ song. I love this type of mid-tempo, big, romantic heavy music. I would love to do a full album in this style somewhere down the line, and it’s the only one of its kind on the Empath record.

‘Spirits Will Collide’ as a song is pretty standard fare for me if you’ve followed what I’ve done over the past few years. It’s ultimately an ‘anti-suicide’ statement and it’s meant to be melodic and straightforward. A video with CGI Gorillas playing bass and Elephants playing drums in front of a billion people is so ridiculously dumb that I’m surprised it makes me feel as happy as it does, but the theme of the song is essentially about trying to convince kids or teens to ‘hang on’ when they feel depression or suicidal thoughts. The story of the video is that a kid that has a fantasy about playing at a massive concert with thousands of people as a choir, animals etc…just the biggest concert he can imagine, and the strength of the sound and the intention of a bunch of people singing together is such that the sound blows away the darkness.

It’s admittedly a bit ridiculous, but I guess in a way I feel that beauty is much harder to be expressed quietly in this day and age, so the video is about saying it louder than ANYTHING. Without a multi-million dollar budget, it was hard to do. However, Kudos to iCode Team and the hundreds of extras for really pulling this out on a shoestring budget, I think it gets the point across.

The only thing I would say that if I was a kid imagining playing the universes biggest concert, I would have added a full head of hair in there for good measure =)”

‘EMPATH’ is available on Limited 2 CD Digipak in O-Card (including an entire disc of bonus material), Standard CD Jewelcase, Gatefold 180G 2LP Vinyl + CD + LP-booklet & as digital album. Order now here: https://devin-townsend.lnk.to/Empath

Watch the video for the previously released track ‘Genesis’, which has reached nearly half a million plays in just over 2 weeks, here: https://youtu.be/1n7uvokARQ4

Watch the video for ‘Evermore’ here: https://youtu.be/-zIxPUPWVq8

The ‘EMPATH Europe – Volume 1’ tour begins in November & the full list of dates can be found below. Label-mates HAKEN will join Devin as special guest.

15th November – Salle Pleyel, Paris, France

16th November – Trix, Antwerp, Belgium

17th November – 013, Tilburg, Netherlands

18th November – Grunspan, Hamburg, Germany

20th November – Logomo, Turku, Finland*

21st November – Cirkus, Helsinki, Finland*

23rd November – Münchenbryggeriet, Stockholm, Sweden

24th November – Sentrum Scene, Oslo, Norway

25th November – Amager Bio, Copenhagen, Denmark

27th November – Astra, Berlin, Germany

28th November – Roxy, Prague, Czech Republic

29th November – A2, Wroclaw, Poland

30th November – Barba Negra, Budapest, Hungary

2nd December – Simm City, Vienna, Austria

3rd December – X Tra, Zurich, Switzerland

5th December – Great Hall, Cardiff, UK

6th December – Academy, Dublin, Ireland

7th December – Limelight, Belfast, UK

9th December – SWG3 Galvanisers, Glasgow, UK

10th December – Albert Hall, Manchester, UK

12th December – Roundhouse, London, UK

13th December – Rock City, Nottingham, UK

*No Haken

Tickets available here: https://www.hevydevy.com/tourdates/

In the lead up to the album’s release, Devin is walking fans through how Empath came together with a series of documentary episodes recorded as phone conversations during the course of the albums recording. Watch the first episode of that series here: https://youtu.be/y4sJ8odko2Y

Over the past few years, the success that Devin has slowly worked for has fortunately come with the power to control his own creative destiny. The recent successes with the DVD from a sold-out Royal Albert hall, or his 2012 ‘Retinal Circus’, or last year’s ‘Ocean Machine’ live DVD with the Orchestra and Choir of State Opera Plovdiv has put him in a position where with the new album ‘EMPATH’, he will once and for all define himself as a musical force outside of any particular genre classification.

On this album Devin has decided to see what would happen if all the styles that make up his current interests were finally represented in one place. To finally shake the fear of expectation, and just do what it is he was meant to do creatively, EMPATH, true to the name, is about allowing the audience a feeling for a variety of musical emotions. The musical dynamics represented on this single album are broad, challenging, and immense. To approach this sort of work with a long history of what makes heavy music ‘heavy’, allows this to be done with a type of power rarely heard.

Joining Devin on this album is Frank Zappa alumni Mike Keneally as music director, as well as Morgan Ågren (Mats And Morgan, Frank Zappa, Fredrik Thordendal), Anup Sastry (Monuments, Periphery), Samus Paulicelli (Decrepit Birth, Abigail Williams), Nathan Navarro, Elliot Desagnes, Steve Vai, Chad Kroeger, Anneke Van Giersbergen, Ché Aimee Dorval, Ryan Dhale and the Elektra Women’s Choir.

A bold statement with massive production values and dynamic, uncompromised musicality. This is a statement about not only pursuing creative freedom in a conservative scene, but also trying to show that heavy music is truly a valid musical tool.

The full track-listing is as follows:

  1. Castaway
  2. Genesis
  3. Spirits Will Collide
  4. Evermore
  5. Sprite
  6. Hear Me
  7. Why?
  8. Borderlands
  9. Requiem
  10. Singularity

Part 1 – Adrift

Part 2 – I Am I

Part 3 – There Be Monsters

Part 4 – Curious Gods

Part 5 – Silicon Scientists

Part 6 – Here Comes The Sun

Last year Devin announced a special ‘An Evening With’ tour that would see him performing acoustically, as well as taking part in a fan Q&A at each show.

The full list of dates are as follows, many of which are already sold out:

29th March – Savoy Theater, Helsinki, Finland SOLD OUT

30th March – Savoy Theater, Helsinki, Finland SOLD OUT

31st March – Sodra Teatern, Stockholm, Sweden SOLD OUT

1st April – Edderkoppen, Oslo, Norway SOLD OUT

2nd April – Bremen Theater, Copenhagen, Denmark SOLD OUT

4th April – PassionKirchhe, Berlin, Germany SOLD OUT

5th April – Stodola, Warsaw, Poland

6th April – La Fabrica, Prague, Czech Republic SOLD OUT

7th April – Freiheiz, Munich, Germany SOLD OUT

9th April – Kulturkirche, Cologne, Germany SOLD OUT

10th April – Grunspan, Hamburg, Germany SOLD OUT

11th April – Bravo Kerk, Haarlem, Netherlands SOLD OUT

13th April – Reading 3, Tel Aviv, Israel

24th April – Bush Hall, London, UK SOLD OUT

25th April – Bush Hall, London, UK SOLD OUT

26th April – St George’s, Bristol, UK SOLD OUT

27th April – City Varieties, Leeds, UK SOLD OUT

29th April – Jam House, Edinburgh, UK SOLD OUT

30th April – Glee Club, Birmingham, UK SOLD OUT

Remaining tickets can be found here: https://bnds.us/hotp9q

DEVIN TOWNSEND online:

http://www.hevydevy.com

http://www.facebook.com/dvntownsend

http://www.omerch.com

https://twitter.com/dvntownsend

https://www.instagram.com/dvntownsend/

https://www.youtube.com/user/poopynuggeteer/featured

 

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