Devin Townsend has revealed new alias DreamPeace, a name under which the Canadian has shared seven albums of ambient music.
In a launch video, Townsend explains that as a longtime insomniac, he began writing material as DreamPeace to create music for sleep, meditation and relaxation.
He explains in the video's description, "This music is not meant to be focused on or directly paid attention to. It is meant to be a sonic background to your day. It is music I write alongside all the 'main' releases that I put out, and as such, acts as a balm for me on so many levels. I listen to this music constantly and have done for years."
Townsend has shared seven albums of material via DSPs and via a proprietary YouTube channel, which also features the efforts in single uploads and eight-hour, looped versions. In his launch video, he shares the hope of bringing the DreamPeace catalogue to vinyl one day.
On the YouTube channel, releases titled Tryptophan, Snow Day and Beautiful Day are explicitly billed as "Music for Sleep," and as I listen through another titled Pond Skimmer while writing this, I can imagine these soundscapes as something I might bring outdoors.
Townsend clarifies that the glacial tones of DreamPeace are not the product of a generative AI tool, but created using guitar and effects — not unlike the gentle, expansive quarantine guitar improv he treated listeners to in the early days of COVID-19 isolation.
"My aim with this music is to provide a soundtrack for anxious minds," Townsend concludes. "I hope it's of some use to you as it is for me."
Whether crafting powerful pop-metal as a solo artist and bandleader, or leading punishing extreme metallers Strapping Young Lad, ambiance has long been an intrinsic component of Townsend's artistry. As far as ambient music goes, Townsend made his debut in the style with 2004's experimental Devlab, following that with the meditative sound collage of The Hummer in 2006.
Townsend is currently on the road as part of the Dreamsonic North American tour with Dream Theater and Animals as Leaders, making its final stop in Vancouver this evening.
In a launch video, Townsend explains that as a longtime insomniac, he began writing material as DreamPeace to create music for sleep, meditation and relaxation.
He explains in the video's description, "This music is not meant to be focused on or directly paid attention to. It is meant to be a sonic background to your day. It is music I write alongside all the 'main' releases that I put out, and as such, acts as a balm for me on so many levels. I listen to this music constantly and have done for years."
Townsend has shared seven albums of material via DSPs and via a proprietary YouTube channel, which also features the efforts in single uploads and eight-hour, looped versions. In his launch video, he shares the hope of bringing the DreamPeace catalogue to vinyl one day.
On the YouTube channel, releases titled Tryptophan, Snow Day and Beautiful Day are explicitly billed as "Music for Sleep," and as I listen through another titled Pond Skimmer while writing this, I can imagine these soundscapes as something I might bring outdoors.
Townsend clarifies that the glacial tones of DreamPeace are not the product of a generative AI tool, but created using guitar and effects — not unlike the gentle, expansive quarantine guitar improv he treated listeners to in the early days of COVID-19 isolation.
"My aim with this music is to provide a soundtrack for anxious minds," Townsend concludes. "I hope it's of some use to you as it is for me."
Whether crafting powerful pop-metal as a solo artist and bandleader, or leading punishing extreme metallers Strapping Young Lad, ambiance has long been an intrinsic component of Townsend's artistry. As far as ambient music goes, Townsend made his debut in the style with 2004's experimental Devlab, following that with the meditative sound collage of The Hummer in 2006.
Townsend is currently on the road as part of the Dreamsonic North American tour with Dream Theater and Animals as Leaders, making its final stop in Vancouver this evening.
