Courtesy: InsideOut Music
Devin Townsend debuted the video for his latest single this week.
Townsend debuted the video for his new single ‘Sprite‘ Tuesday. The song is featured in his latest album Empath, which is scheduled for re-issue June 5 through InsideOut Music.
The video, which is part of the new visualizations that will come with the album’s re-issue, is a very artistic presentation that (intentionally or not) pays tribute to the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey with its use of the man and woman floating in space. There is also an octopus that audiences will recognize from Towsend’s video for another of the album’s singles, ‘Genesis‘ as well as a killer whale.
The musical arrangement at the center of ‘Sprite’ is just as artistic as its visual accompaniment that is full of soaring choral elements, guitars, keyboards and even string arrangements.
Pre-orders are open now for the forthcoming re-issue of Empath. The re-issue of Townsend’s 2019 album features the original release plus a bonus disc and two bonus Blu-ray discs.
The first Blu-ray features a 5.1 Surround Sound mix of Empath crafted by Townsend himself, with visuals for the entire album, plus a stereo visualizer. The second Blu-ray contains a bonus live performance titled Acoustically Inclined — Live in Leeds. the concert, captured during Townsend’s April 2019 acoustic tour, features performances of some of Townsend’s most beloved songs, such as ‘Love?,’ ‘Deadhead,’ and ‘Things Beyond Things.’
Townsend offered a statement about the 5.1 Surround Sound mix in a recent interview.
“On a technical level, I guess I have always been dissatisfied with the basic ‘stereo’ format in which the type of music I make gets presented in,” he said. “Whether its headphones, computer speakers, stereos (or basically anything currently), I have had to figure out ways to get the work to function through TWO speakers. I hear things in a particularly orchestrated way, and with the amount of information that typically gets recorded per song, the result has been the dubious ‘wall of sound’ that I keep ending up with. But my intention has never been to make an oppressive experience, but rather something that is immersive and vast.”
“Making it work in two speakers just simply doesn’t quite work for the vision,” he added. “Although I’ve managed to get the point across, (to varying degrees), things always have to compromise to make it all fit. Making the drums speak at the same time as orchestra, cymbals, guitars, choirs, synths etc.…all with my voice on top, ends up with every conceivable frequency fighting for breathing space between those two speakers.
Therefore, I asked the powers that be in my business world, to tolerate one more ‘kick at the can’ when it came to Empath. I wanted to attempt a surround mix and follow the original vision of it being an immersive, multimedia experience for people in the ways I could best achieve at this stage. And although it’s still pretty ‘dense’, with four more sources for the sound to come from, I feel its significantly closer to the original vision here.”
‘Sprite’ is just the latest single released from Empath. The album has also spawned the aforementioned single ‘Genesis’ as well as the singles ‘Why,’ ‘Spirits Will Collide‘ and ‘Evermore.’
More information on Empath is available online along with all of Devin Townsend’s latest news and more at:
Website: http://www.devintownsend.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/dvntownsend
Twitter: http://twitter.com/dvntownsend
To keep up with the latest entertainment reviews and news, go online to http://www.facebook.com/philspicks and “Like” it. Fans can always keep up with the latest sports and entertainment reviews and news in the Phil’s Picks blog at https://philspicks.wordpress.com.
philspicks 