A change is as good as a rest and on his 21st studio album, Devin Townsend has decided to take a calmer and more reflective approach to his songwriting. Lightwork finds him swapping his trademark shredding for prog-pop synths and bright harmonies. Prog catches up with the prolific musician to find out more.

Words: James McNair Images: Paul Harries

The calmer and happier Devin Townsend.

Familiarity with your interviewee’s whole career tends to grease the wheels, especially if you have an informed take on that deep-cut only seasoned fans know. But what if the artist in question is Devin Townsend, a man who has made 30-odd albums running the gamut from industrial metal to prog to ambient new age, and, being a great lummox, you’ve only just discovered how fab he is? This writer comes clean, congratulating Townsend on new LP Lightwork and then confessing all.

“Lightwork is the only thing of mine you’ve heard?” he says, not even remotely offended. “You lucky bastard!”

Clad in a plaid zip-up shirt, Townsend’s Zooming from his home in Vancouver, Canada, his green beanie hat pulled snug, several acoustic guitars hanging on the wall to his left. The little exchange above breaks the ice.

“I’m covered in sawdust,” he says, smiling. “I’ve moved into a new place that required complete renovation, and I figured that if I could build a studio and a space to do green screen work and podcasts, it would bode well. The problem is I grossly underestimated the amount of time capital and emotional energy involved.”

Townsend’s phraseology is telling. Prolific and highly-driven, he’s spent the last three decades carving almost every waking hour into new music. Head-hunted lead vocalist on Steve Vai’s 1993 album Sex & Religion; linchpin of extreme-metal act Strapping Young Lad from 1994 to 2007; creator of alien rock opera Ziltoid The Omniscient; sometime voiceover artist for Adult Swim cartoon Metalocalypse – wherever you alight on Townsend’s CV, it’s fascinating. Right now, he has a Broadway-style musical titled The Moth in the pipeline, while 2021 saw him release twinned ambient and experimental albums The Puzzle (inspired by a sense of chaos) and Snuggles (inspired by a sense of calm).