Watch Devin Townsend's Casualties Of Cool session

A still from the video
A still from the video

Devin Townsend speaks about the “unrelenting horror” which inspired his folk project, Casualties Of Cool.

The Canadian maestro says he swayed towards Americana-fused music while jamming alone at night in the latest episode of the Dunlop Sessions.

He says: “Personally, I was so overblown with work at the time. I was doing Deconstruction, which is tons of angular arpeggios. It was exhausting mentally, so I would go home at night and just play a Telecaster and revisit the more Americana vibe.

“It was always in the middle of the night that I had the opportunity to do it. Then, as a result, I had the idea of the moon and a mixture of this folky thing – but underneath the surface, there’s this unrelenting horror. it seemed like an appropriate theme.”

He recalls reaching out to singer-songwriter Che Aimee Dorval to work on the country-folk record, which they recorded separately.

He adds: “It was totally detached, which ultimately defined the sound of that album. There’s these shadows, this element of haunting and death, we’re together yet we don’t interact. I like that cusp of it being something to listen to when you’re chilled out – but if you’re not careful, it’s gonna bite you.”

The Devin Townsend Project commence a European tour in January.

Devin Townsend Project 2017 European tour

Jan 28: Antwerp Trix, Belgium
Jan 30: Esch-Sur-Alzette Rockhal, Luxembourg
Jan 31: Paris Le Bataclan, France
Feb 01: Bordeaux Rockschool Barbey, France
Feb 03: Madrid La Riviera, Spain
Feb 04: Barcelona Razzmatazz 2, Spain
Feb 05: Marseille Le Moulin, France
Feb 07: Milan Live Club, Italy
Feb 08: Pratteln Z7, Switzerland
Feb 09: Stuttgart LKA Longhorn, Germany
Feb 10: Munich Backstage, Germany
Feb 12: Zagreb Tvornica Club, Croatia
Feb 13: Budapest A38, Hungary
Feb 14: Vienna Arena, Austria
Feb 16: Prague The Roxy, Czech Republic
Feb 17: Leipzig Taubchenthal, Germany
Feb 18: Krakow Kwadrat, Poland
Feb 19: Warsaw Stodola, Poland
Feb 21: Hamburg Grunspan, Germany
Feb 22: Arhus Voxhall, Denmark
Feb 23: Gothenburg Pustervik, Sweden
Feb 25: Bergen Blastfest, Norway
Feb 26: Oslo Sentrum Scene, Norway
Feb 28: Helsinki The Circus, Finland
Mar 01: Seinajoki Rytmikorjaamo, Finland
Mar 03: Stockholm Berns, Sweden
Mar 04: Malmo KB, Sweden
Mar 05: Copenhagen Amager Bio, Denmark
Mar 07: Berlin Columbia Theater, Germany
Mar 08: Dortmund FZW, Germany
Mar 09: Tilburg 013, Netherlands
Mar 10: Amsterdam Melkweg, Netherlands
Mar 12: Bristol Colston Hall
Mar 13: Manchester Academy
Mar 14: Glasgow Barrowlands
Mar 16: Birmingham O2 Institute
Mar 17: London Hammersmith Eventim Apollo
Mar 18: Nottingham Rock City

Every Devin Townsend Project album, ranked worst to best

Former TeamRock news desk member Christina joined our team in late 2015, and although her time working on online rock news was fairly brief, she made a huge impact by contributing close to 1500 stories. Christina also interviewed artists including Deftones frontman Chino Moreno and worked at the Download festival. In late 2016, Christina left rock journalism to pursue a career in current affairs. In 2021, she was named Local Weekly Feature Writer of the Year at the Scottish Press Awards.