THIS WEEK I’M LISTENING TO…DEVIN TOWNSEND – The Moth (InsideOut Music)

“I don’t know where I’m going from here, but I promise it won’t be boring,” said David Bowie, an artist who trod his own path and refused to be pigeon-holed. The same sentiment is equally applicable to Devin Townsend, the Canadian multi-instrumentalist and musical polymath. After some more mainstream (for him) releases over the past few years, such as 2022’s ‘Lightwork’ and ‘PowerNerd’ which followed two years later, he’s back in the racks with ‘The Moth’, a creation – ‘release’ seems too insufficient a word to describe it – which puts him back out on the extremities once again. A sprawling, epic rock opera in its truest sense, ‘The Moth’ has apparently been a decade in the making, but it was an approach by the head of the North Netherlands’ Orchestra And Choir to add full orchestral opulence to his work that created the true spark and led to collaboration. And, as a consequence, this isn’t band and orchestra and choir doing their best to get along like noisy neighbours but a true – and majestic – integration of themes and styles. And in the fabled words of Monty Python’s Leonardo da Vinci, ‘it bloody works, mate’!

photo by Tom Hawkins

Wrapped around a loose concept, ‘The Moth’ is, according to the album bio, a cry for self-acceptance. As Townsend explains, “the most obvious metaphor for change within the concept of this project was a moth: from caterpillar to an entirely different creature – one so drawn to the light that it burns itself away,” which also explains the time it took to progress, as ideas were developed, refined and discarded as necessary (another example of change and self-acceptance). The resulting album’s 24 tracks – and some formats offer as a bonus disc a more orchestral version subtitled ‘The Afterlife’ – race by in 70 minutes, some being less than two-minute-long links in the concept while the exhilarating ‘Covered By Causes’ breaks the eight-minute mark. The result is a roller-coaster of moments of high drama followed by more reflective interludes, stirring, blistering and perhaps a little pompous now and then. It also features at times Townsend’s trademark humour and that slice of otherworldliness that you expect from his work.

With Mike Keneally, James Leach and Darby Todd on guitar, bass and drums respectively, and guest appearances from Anneke van Giersbergen and Lynn Wu adding to the mix, ‘The Moth’ is a steadfast body of work, immaculately crafted and honed pretty much to perfection. If you don’t get Devin Townsend this album won’t change your mind, but for adherents and Ziltoidians alike it’s something rather special.

Video Clips:

‘Enter the City' - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ih78rQZT8U4&list=RD4ft-oXVpP4I&index=3

‘Home At Night’ - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ft-oXVpP4I&list=RD4ft-oXVpP4I&start_radio=1

John Tucker June 2026