He tells Bravewords: "I think there's a part of it that's kid-oriented, but there's another part to it. I've demanded a lot of my audience for years. I drew them in with heavy metal and gave them country, new age and ambient music.

"There's a part of me that, when the support came, I decided that I did my artsy-fartsy movie (Sky Blue) so I needed to do my Michael Bay-type movie (Dark Matters) and then reconsider what I want to do musically. It's not that the well is dry, it's just that it's been an intense amount of work for an intense amount of time.

"By finishing up with the Ziltoid thing, in one way it was a conclusion to what started seven years ago. Sure, it's still a metaphor because that's how I write, but the surface of this is much different. It's for people to enjoy."