Powernerd – noun
1. A person of any gender who has, through tenacity and perseverance, turned what society may deem as a ‘weakness’ into a superpower.
2. A total fucking badass.
3. You.
Devin Townsend recently announced the release of his forthcoming new studio album “PowerNerd” on the 25th October 2024. 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”.
Today he presents a different side to “PowerNerd”, following the release of the anthemic title track last month. “Jainism” is an atmospheric and heavy track, that combines crushing riffs with lush synths, and you can watch the video here:
As Devin explains:
“This next song was based on my connection to music in the mid nineties. Also the idea of what it means to rend yourself artistically to an unresponsive world in 2024. I referenced The Wildhearts in the chorus, as Ginger is one of our generations greatest songwriters. In preparation for ‘The Moth’, PowerNerd is meant to look back and celebrate the past before moving forward. Thank you for the support…back to work here :)”
“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.”
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’” adds texture after texture on top of a dulcet, acoustic introduction.
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.’”
Foto:Tanya Ghosh
