DEVIN TOWNSEND PROJECT's 'Transcendence' Album Gets Release Date; Cover Artwork Unveiled
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DEVIN TOWNSEND PROJECT, the band led by Canadian musician/producer Devin Townsend, will release its new album, "Transcendence", on September 2. The cover artwork for the effort can be seen here.
Devin comments: "'Transcendence', like every record I've done prior, is an extension of what's been going on in my world, represented in a new batch of songs. I'm 44 years old now, and this is where I have been over the past two years since 'Z2'."
The follow-up to 2014's "Z2" double album (half of which was made up of the DTP full-length "Sky Blue"), sees the award-winning Townsend exploring a relatively new way of working, collaborating with the entire DTP band during the writing stages of the record. "The result of this process is a record that I truly think the intention of is special," he says of the album. "I 'found' gas to put into the tank and am glad I did. I think the intention, the theme, and the participation of everyone involved allows this album to act like a fulcrum between the past few years and what I intend to do next with the symphony. I am very proud of it and everyone involved."
The artwork was once again created by Anthony Clarkson, whom Devin has been working with for several years now. Townsend comments on the cover: "[Anthony] presented me the main image of the girl as a painted version, and I was intrigued and asked him to redo it with a girl he knew with photos. I liked the idea that it seemed like a mashup of religious and spiritual imagery, in a sense, representing the idea (to me) that these types of connections to the infinite are often more like identities we can cling to rather than what lies behind. In a sense, the character on the front almost seems like the ideologies she's representing are more 'brand names' than anything else."
In a recent interview with Metal Wani, Devin stated about the songwriting process for the follow-up to DEVIN TOWNSEND PROJECT's 2014 double album "Z2": "Because 'Z2' happened amidst the crowdfunding, amidst touring and just lots of shit, it was really a challenging and tiring experience. So I've tried to spend this year really putting the pieces together. So now that we are working on a new DTP record, the process will be more streamlined, more efficient and more fulfilling."
He continued: "The way that I write is I just write a ton of music in the background of my life and then I just bring it into rehearsal. It's, like, 'Okay, guys. It goes like this. Let's smooth it out.'"
Townsend also talked about the new album's musical and lyrical direction. He said: "In terms of what the music is, it's always hard to tell. But in terms of what the theme is, I can tell you — it's about getting over it: getting over yourself, getting over… all that stuff. And I'm not saying that I am. But the point of it is, that seems to be the next step."
He went on to say: "You know, I'll get into situations with people that I'll be really irritated by them. And recently there's been this sort of thing that's been going on in my process where I'm, like, 'This is your problem. This is not [the other] person that needs to change; it's you and how you're reacting to them.' And that's kind of new, right?"
Townsend added: "Because I have been so pigheaded and so selfish about so many things for so many years, I've spent a lot of time being, like, 'That person needs to change. This person needs to change.' So, in a sense, this record is based around the sense of, like, what needs to change is your reaction to these things and not them."
"Z2" was a double album where the first CD was a DEVIN TOWNSEND PROJECT album called "Sky Blue", and the second disc was a ZILTOID album called "Dark Matters".
DEVIN TOWNSEND PROJECT will team up with BETWEEN THE BURIED AND ME for the "Transcending The Coma Tour" this fall. Support on the trek will come from FALLUJAH.
