Devin Townsend has released some details regarding his upcoming album Puzzle, along with its accompanying graphic novel and film, which were announced during the final months of 2020. Puzzle‘s release will be accompanied by another 2021 album, Snuggles, which will also have its own film. The performer also explained that he will be finishing up work on a 2022 record, which he calls his first new “actual ‘album'” in August.
It’s become a massive project with a lot of great people involved. It’s not ‘song oriented’ and is complicated and abstract. The film has become a tremendous undertaking and we will be streaming it online when it debuts, (along with physical product that is pretty next level)
— Devin Townsend (@dvntownsend) January 20, 2021
Both Puzzle and Snuggles serve as soundtracks for their accompanying films. Puzzle is meant to represent the chaos of 2020, while Snuggles is meant to be a smoother, more calming record, meant to serve as Puzzle‘s satisfying conclusion. Townsend stated that around 30 to 40 people worked on the Puzzle film, which is meant to portray a sense of community.
There’s two albums: ‘Puzzle’ is chaos and meant to represent the internal dialogue in a fundamentally absurd time, ‘Snuggles’ is meant to be a beautiful balm that acts as a conclusion and something you can listen to on loop to feel better. Both have a film.
— Devin Townsend (@dvntownsend) January 20, 2021
This batch of new music is meant to inspire other people to create their own works of art, with the accompanying films and graphic novel The Puzzle, meant to act as examples of the work’s visual representation. “The Puzzle is written to be my version of a soundtrack to a kind of universal experience we’ve shared I guess…the movie and books we are producing are meant as examples of the concept…as in: ‘everybody’s puzzle is unique, based on the same experiences,'” Townsend explained.
The Puzzle is written to be my version of a soundtrack to a kind of universal experience we’ve shared I guess…the movie and books we are producing are meant as examples of the concept…as in: ‘everybody’s puzzle is unique, based on the same experiences’
— Devin Townsend (@dvntownsend) January 20, 2021
These projects are set to be finished by March 22, with a release set two to three months after the date. Townsend is also planning work on his upcoming two-disc record in August. These aren’t the only projects Townsend has set for 2021 either, the performer is also working on a new box set which will include his Christmas live stream.
Finally in August, I will be begin recording my next actual ‘album’ (with songs) for release early 2022. (Untitled so far) but before that, The Puzzle is something very different and really fascinating I think.
— Devin Townsend (@dvntownsend) January 20, 2021
— Devin Townsend (@dvntownsend) January 20, 2021
Photo Credit: Raymond Flotat
