Devin Townsend's body of work is eclectic to say the least. When he's not raising six-figure sums for Covid relief via live home studio gigs, he conjures up everything from hour-long ambient guitar instrumentals to theatrical rock to death metal.
It may come as no surprise, then – although it probably will – that the Canadian musician has composed the soundtrack to a new children's TV show entitled Colours, hosted on BBC's CBeebies channel in the UK.
The show – aimed at young children – takes viewers on a journey to “explore the wonder and variety of colors that surround us”. For readers in the UK, you can watch the series on BBC iPlayer. Take a listen to a snippet of Townsend's score on the Colours trailer below.
To date, seven episodes of 14 have aired, centering around the colors red, blue, yellow, green, orange, purple and rainbow. As you'll notice, there hasn't yet been an episode on the color black. Could a black metal score be on the horizon? Probably not, but we can dream.
When a fan asked Townsend on Twitter whether he scored all episodes in the series, Hevy Devy replied: “Yep. 14 episodes. All the music. Nearly broke me”, before signing off with a sarcastic smiley face.
Yep. 14 episodes. All the music. Nearly broke me :)March 21, 2021
Townsend is currently working on a follow-up to 2019's Empath, entitled Puzzle. In separate tweets posted March 21, he divulged more on the pressures of creating a TV soundtrack whilst producing an album.
“So yeah, during the making of Puzzle, I made a soundtrack to a kid's show on the BBC,” he wrote. “It was a big learning curve and lots of work, but the people who produced it were very cool.”
Get The Pick Newsletter
All the latest guitar news, interviews, lessons, reviews, deals and more, direct to your inbox!
So yeah, during the making of Puzzle, I made the soundtrack to a kids show on the BBC :) https://t.co/R0COQH1qfyMarch 21, 2021
Its 14 episodes. It was a big learning curve and lots of work, but the people who produced it were very cool.March 21, 2021
This is, of course, not the first instance of metal seeping into the world of children's entertainment. The intro riff from Megadeth's 1990 thrash metal masterpiece Holy Wars... The Punishment Due was recently found in an educational spelling book.
Thank you for reading 5 articles this month**
Join now for unlimited access
US pricing $3.99 per month or $39.00 per year
UK pricing £2.99 per month or £29.00 per year
Europe pricing €3.49 per month or €34.00 per year
*Read 5 free articles per month without a subscription
Sam was Staff Writer at GuitarWorld.com from 2019 to 2023, and also created content for Total Guitar, Guitarist and Guitar Player. He has well over 15 years of guitar playing under his belt, as well as a degree in Music Technology (Mixing and Mastering). He's a metalhead through and through, but has a thorough appreciation for all genres of music. In his spare time, Sam creates point-of-view guitar lesson videos on YouTube under the name Sightline Guitar.
“You can only imagine the effect this had on the young Keith Richards and Eric Clapton”: 9 must-hear albums that fueled the British blues guitar boom
“We’ve made something really unique and special”: Thin Lizzy to release first new record in over 40 years – featuring brand new guitar parts from founding member Eric Bell and unheard Phil Lynott vocals