Devin Townsend delivered the first taste of his anticipated Empath album, setting the tone with the incredibly strange track "Genesis." This next single, "Evermore," isn't as stylistically spastic, but is still fairly wide-ranging. Take a listen and watch the space-faring music video where an animated cat lands on Planet Fear above.

"Evermore" is heavy on vocal choirs, offering even more depth to Devy's already dense, layered production that has become his hallmark over the last two-plus decades. The orchestration embraces a cartoonish approach, mirrored by the animated video.

Always one with plenty of food for thought, Townsend said the following about the new track:

So with the release of 'Empath' fast approaching, and people having had various chances to hear the album, the reactions are pretty much what I expected: Those interested in the more artistic and free form side of what I do really seem to like and understand it, and those looking for the more commercial or rocking side of what I do are maybe not so convinced :)

The initial plan was to release a more commercial song next (the sole one on the album, ‘Spirits Will Collide’) but the video we’ve been working on for that is hilariously ambitious and we needed a bit more time. Therefore, we opted to release this song, ‘Evermore’, as a way to bridge that gap. It’s slightly in the same vein as ‘Genesis’ on some level I suppose, but a little more groovy and a bit less fractured in terms of structure.

The lyrics are not as much about a bored space cat crash landing on ‘planet fear’ in a literal sense, but I guess that’s easier to articulate with visuals at this stage than ‘yet another song about trying to work through one’s own mid-life bullshit to find some sense of self-actualization’, though perhaps with more time, it will resonate further with that. Thanks to Wayne, Josh and Miles for the tag team animations.

The drums on this particular track are all Anup Sastry, (who is a great guy who loves his dog) and the Elektra choir helps out a lot again. I’ve got a strange relationship with singing at this stage of my career so I really appreciated the support.

I encourage you, (if you like this sort of stuff, that is) to check it out in headphones. There’s a fair amount of candy in this song I spent a long time on. I think it’s streaming now too...

Thank you sincerely. The album is meant to be of some help in a weird way. - Dev

Empath comes out on March 29 through InsideOut Music and can be pre-ordered here.

Catch Devin Townsend on the road playing an acoustic set opening for Avatar in North America at the dates listed below.

Avatar / Devin Townsend / Dance With the Dead / '68 Tour

May 3 - Mexico City, Mexico @ Domination 2019
May 16 - Buffalo, N.Y. @ Town Ballroom
May 17 - Columbus, Ohio @ Sonic Temple
May 18 - Sayreville, N.J. @ Starland Ballroom
May 19 - Portland, Maine @ Aura
May 21 - Millvale, Pa. @ Mr. Smalls Theatre
May 22 - Chicago, Ill. @ House of Blues
May 23 - Madison, Wis. @ The Sylvee
May 24 - Sauget, Ill. @ Pop’s
May 25 - Sioux City, Iowa @ Anthem at Hard Rock Hotel
May 26 - Pryor, Okla. @ Rocklahoma
May 28 - Minneapolis, Minn. @ First Avenue
May 29 - Winnipeg, Mantioba @ Garrick Centre
May 30 - Saskatoon, Saskatchewan @ Coors Event Centre
May 31 - Edmonton, Alberta @ The Ranch Roadhouse
June 1 - Calgary, Alberta @ The Palace
June 3 - Vancouver, British Columbia @ Commodore Ballroom
June 4 - Portland, Ore. @ Crystal Ballroom
June 6 - San Francisco, Calif. @ The Fillmore
June 7 - Reno, Nev. @ Cargo
June 8 - Salt Lake City, Utah @ The Complex - Grand
June 9 - Grand Junction, Colo. @ Mesa Theater
June 10 - Colorado Springs, Colo. @ The Black Sheep
June 11 - Albuquerque, N.M. @ Sunshine Theater
June 13 - Los Angeles, Calif. @ Mayan Theatre
June 14 - Tucson, Ariz. @ Rialto Theatre
June 15 - Las Vegas, Nev. @ House of Blues

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