Former Strapping Young Lad member Devin Townsend recently revealed that he would be releasing a solo album titled The Puzzle sometime this year. The album is set to be released alongside another album titled Snuggles as well as a film and graphic novel that accompanies them. Townsend stated that his first “actual album,” now known as Lightwork, will be released in 2022.

Townsend took to his Twitter page to announce the start of Lightwork. He stated that he began writing the upcoming release back when the pandemic first began but eventually found himself struggling to create the album as he wanted it to be. From that point, he decided to set it aside and move on to write Puzzle and Snuggles. “And now that I’ve resumed writing ‘Lightwork’…it’s totally worked, I feel I can make that record I’ve always wanted to make without the chaos sabotaging it. Solving ‘the puzzle’ meant getting in there and dealing with it head-on,” said Townsend in a tweet.

I realize near the end of each record what its ‘purpose’ for me is artistically… Im a month away from Puzzle being finished, and I think I get it now…

— Devin Townsend (@dvntownsend) February 26, 2021

Townsend found that trying to write Lightwork during the pandemic was a hardship because of the chaos in his head. Due to the crazy events that took place during that time, he felt he couldn’t give the album what it truly deserved. However, he at least knew that Lightwork needed to be “direct, powerful, ethereal, melodic hard rock/metal.”

I started writing ‘Lightwork’ when the Pandemic started, but I couldn’t make it do what I wanted.I kept thinking it should be direct, powerful, ethereal, melodic hard rock / metal, but it kept getting sabotaged by the chaos in my head with all that has been happening in the world

— Devin Townsend (@dvntownsend) February 26, 2021

This isn’t the first time the Canadian singer-songwriter has been publicly open about the process of creating his albums. In a recent episode of his podcast series, he went into detail and reflected on the process of writing and recording the 2009 album Addicted. In another recent podcast episode, he elaborated on the creation of his 2011 album titled Deconstruction, which was from the Devin Townsend Project. Townsend began his podcast series at the beginning of quarantine. The podcast was created with the intent to let fans explore his creative side and processes.

Shortly before launching his podcast, Townsend started his Quarantine Project, which featured new music and other content. This project was the beginning of the podcast process for the singer-songwriter. The first song that he released under the project was in fact titled “Quarantine” and consisted of a completely different sound than he is known for achieving through his music. “Quarantine” is a calmer, acoustic-based track where his usual songs are heavier metal tunes.

So I put it aside and just committed to working out the chaos in Puzzle in the most uncompromised way I could… make it as abstract, bizarre, and unrestrained as possible. Dont worry about songs, lyrics, etc…just make it a purge…

— Devin Townsend (@dvntownsend) February 26, 2021

Make a movie, make it a complete art project. Not a care in any way about ‘songs’…just get it out of the bloody way so I can write Lightwork without any hangups…

— Devin Townsend (@dvntownsend) February 26, 2021

And now that ive resumed writing ‘Lightwork’…its totally worked, I feel I can make that record Ive always wanted to make without the chaos sabotaging it. Solving ‘the puzzle’ meant getting in there and dealing with it head-on.

— Devin Townsend (@dvntownsend) February 26, 2021

So I start recording Lightwork in July…directly after delivering Puzzle. Its a breeze in comparison. Its freaking beautiful…

— Devin Townsend (@dvntownsend) February 26, 2021

Photo credit: Raymond Flotat