The immediacy of social media allows musicians to reveal behind the scenes information about what they are working on without having to wait for a magazine to be published or an interview to be transcribed. That's exactly what Devin Townsend did on Twitter yesterday (Dec. 30), updating the progress of new material.

'Ziltoid the Omniscient' was released in 2007. It was a concept album about an alien named Ziltoid that travels to earth in search of the ultimate cup of coffee. It was a solo effort, and Townsend has revealed on Twitter that he is working on a sequel to the album.

"I began writing for 'Z2' about 6 months ago," Townsend tweeted. "Between all the ideas, there's close to 70 songs. Some are really good, but none are 'it'. How do you not repeat yourself? How do you avoid being a caricature? How do I incorporate Ziltoid with what we've done and not just be silly."

In another tweet, Townsend revealed how far along he is on the project: "I'm proud to say that the ideas that are coming now are beginning to take the shape. The theme. It's so exciting. We start recording in May."

2013 saw the release of Towsend's 'The Retinal Circus' live CD/DVD. Before 'Z2' sees the light of day, Townsend plans on releasing the album 'Casualties of Cool' next year. He tweeted details about that as well: "'Casualties Of Cool' gets released in May by the way... It's a bridge to the Z2 phase, really important one to me."

Click here for these and several other tweets from Townsend.