Canadian vocalist/guitarist/producer DEVIN TOWNSEND is featured in a new interview withMxdwn. An excerpt is available below:

Mxdwn: So the big topic of course is your new album Epicloud, coming out this month. It has a big epic sound, is that where the title comes from?

Devin: "I’ll go with that, that sounds alright. This record is something I put a lot of effort into it being the way it is, almost as a reaction to how my career and how my life seems to go. Like, I’ll spend so much time being complicated and worrying about this, that, and the other thing, that I feel like on some level I neglected to acknowledge the part of me that just wanted to make big, simple, positive music. In making that decision for myself, I took it as far as I felt I could go, gospel choirs and the real big epic sort of stuff. In the whole scheme of it, I’m 25 records into my career, I’ve been doing this for so long, and nothing I’ve done has really been the same thing twice, so this is just another example of it. I’ve always wanted to make a straight forward, accessible type of record and I’m very happy with it. It remains to be seen whether or not that sentiment will be shared by the people who’ve been supportive of what I do but at least its honest, right?"

Mxdwn: You think by now people would be used to you doing something completely different every single time though, right?

Devin: "I find that a lot of the time now the reaction of the record that I get are technically not the people who are used to it, it’s people who are new to it who are expecting the record that came before it. It seems like it always takes about a year for people to understand the prior record. I remember with the record label I had done Terria and when I first delivered it to them they were like, 'What the hell is this?' Then a year later they were like, 'Oh that was really cool. We get it. We like what you did with Terria.' Then I was like, 'Well that’s unfortunate because here’s Accelerated Evolution,' and the reaction across the board was, 'Well we wanted more Terria.' With each record that goes by it seems the reaction is based on the one prior and Epicloud is no different. The reaction tends to be, people were finally understanding what Deconstruction and Ghost were about and it seems like that’s where people are at the moment. I suspect that when I do the next record after Epicloud there will be a certain portion of people that want more of that, so its just business as usual my friend."

Mxdwn: So is the next record going to be the Ziltoid Part 2 that you were talking about doing?

Devin: "That’s kind of a couple years down the road. It’s a really big project and I want to take my time with it. The next immediate project is a record that I’ve been writing at the same time as Epicloud called Casualties Of Cool and its sort of like haunted Johnny Cash style music. It's as far removed from the over the top bombast of Epicloud as I think I can possibly get, but I think that’s also indicative of the writing process. Once I finish doing a project I’ve spent so much time doing it that I’m sick of it and I want do something else, and then by the time I finish the next one I’m sick of that and I just keep on cycling through these things based on nothing but a true desire to do it and a real love of music."

Click here for the complete interview.

Due out September 18th in North America and September 24th in Europe, Townsend's new Epicloud album boasts 13 light-hearted, hook laden tracks featuring once again, guest vocal appearances by ANNEKE VAN GIERSBERGEN.

Epicloud will be available in the following formats: standard CD jewel case, limited edition digipack with bonus CD, double vinyl gatefold with the exclusive bonus track, 'Epicloud' (release date TBA), and digital download on iTunes with two exclusive bonus tracks, 'Cry Forever' (demo) and 'Take My Ego' (demo). In addition, fans can now pre-order the album on CM Distro and receive an exclusive bundle that includes a DTP teddy bear (limited to 500) and immediate download of the single, 'Lucky Animals'.

Check out a new review for Epicloud here. Samples for all the tracks on Epicloud can be heard below: