Devin Townsend’s career is one of many distinct eras. He’s been the leader of Strapping Young Lad, the lynchpin of the Devin Townsend Project and the co-architect of country duo Casualties of Cool, all while maintaining his prolific and lauded solo project. Now, the polymath’s newest era starts with Powernerd: a succinct but still progressive record that pulls from its mastermind’s childhood love of vintage rock.
“It was a conscious thing,” Devin says of his brand-new album, the music on which he wrote in just 11 days. “I thought, ‘I’ve spent so much time overthinking every aspect of my work – what would happen if I didn’t?’ Maybe I would have the opportunity to be a bit more direct with what it is that I’m trying to do. I really wanted to see if I could cut through some of the meandering.”
From the moment the title track ignites the record with a roar of “Powernerd!” and scrambles of Motörhead-like urgency, Devin’s 28th studio project is a gallop of melody, noise and emotion.
The opener and “Knuckledragger” are all-out, high-speed rampages, their impact intensified by their central figure’s signature ‘wall of sound’ production style.
However, that aggression is far from the only thing to come from Powernerd’s 11 episodic tracks. “Dreams of Light”, by comparison, is an evocative and dynamic four-minute ballad. “Younger Lover” calms down from an explosive opening to lush verses of synths and singing, whereas “Falling Apart” and “Jainism” add texture after texture on top of dulcet, acoustic introductions. With each song also having an irresistible hook at its heart, Devin has undeniably crafted a soulful instant classic of a rock record.
Where Powernerd’s music is clear, though, its theme is far more complex. For all its displays of Devin’s beloved humour, the album finds the mastermind wrestling with emotion too.
“I guess the lesson that I needed to learn from this experience was, if you’re going through something emotionally – loss, specifically – whatever aesthetic you use artistically is just going to adhere itself to that,” Devin explains. “So – as much as I tried to make a simple, fun, party record – it ended up being such an emotionally heavy experience for me. It’s going to come out and you can’t really suppress it. From what was originally a quick, simple record, the process of loss and acceptance was just something I didn’t expect.”
As a result, where Powernerd’s music was written in less than a fortnight, its lyrics were refined over a far longer period of time into a narrative about strength and healing. On “Falling Apart”, Devin commands himself to “keep the tension under control”. “You’ve got to believe that things will only get better,” subsequent song “Gratitude” powerfully declares. These uplifting messages even play into the record’s title.
Devin offers as a definition: “I would say that a powernerd would be somebody that has a tendency that society has deemed weak or not valuable, whether that’s empathy or being an insular person or an introvert, and turns that into a type of personal power. It’s like, ‘OK, yeah, I’m sensitive to this, that and the other thing, but man, I am going to pull through! I am going to do things with that sensitivity that are rooted in strength.’”
As well as express strength through adversity, Powernerd will open the door to Devin’s immediate future. Its positivity and succinctness will soon be contrasted by follow-up The Moth – self-described as “orchestral, over-the-top, dark and uncomfortable” – and the “alien weirdness” of finale Axolotl. Both efforts have already been written, and together the trilogy will express the mind-boggling range of this man’s musical talent.
For now, though, Devin has faced the throes of grief then conveyed them in a therapeutic, focused and ultimately inspiring release. The next chapter of the prog star’s work is off to an unmissable start. And, when this era comes to a close, who knows what will come next?
– Matt Mills, June 2024
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