"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," Townsend tells British Prog mag.

 

"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, 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.

 

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

 

Alongside Sastry, Empath will also feature contributions from Steve Vai, Anneke van Giersbergen, Mike Keneally, Chad Kroeger and more.

 

Townsend will release Empath through InsideOut on March 29. Two days prior to the release, on 27th March, a special cinema screening of the documentary will take place in London at the Everyman Screen on the Green. Devin will be in attendance to give a live commentary to the film, and to answer fans questions afterwards.