Twenty Øne Piløts: One Year Of Clancy

By Kayla Harper

Among the ominous piano notes, the first words heard on Twenty Øne Piløts latest album, Clancy, are spoken in three different languages (German, French and Spanish) and roughly translate to “this small eerie island has made me a weapon. We both believe that we can use it to change the momentum of this war.”  This is followed by Tyler Joseph’s “welcome back to Trench” a nod to their fourth studio album, Trench, and a sample from “Bandito” off of the same album.  To any other person, it’s a cool, suspenseful album intro, to long-term twenty øne piløts fans who have been invested in a decade-long storyline, it’s everything.  

The squeals that escaped my sister, Kaitie, and I’s mouths the first time we heard “welcome back to Trench”  and the tears that followed as the “Bandito” sample kicked in were unmatched.  The excitement of a new album era was upon us.  That album would be named Clancy and is officially a year old today: May 24, 2025. 

It’s difficult for me to imagine it’s already been a year since I went to work wearing my brand new Clancy shirt, one of the three that were available at the time (we couldn’t pick two so we bought all three), restless to get the day over with and be closer to hearing the new tøp album for the first time.  When I got home, Kaitie and I baked cupcakes inspired by the red and yellow Clancy colour palette to pass the time and continue tøp album release night traditions.  Before long it was time to sit down for the livestream and hear the album for the first time.  It was fun to feel like we were hanging out with the boys on release night as we all experienced the brand new music videos alongside the songs together in real-time. 

On the bus to work the next morning, I wrote a very rushed article, trying to get my thoughts out about each track, but it was difficult to write well because I was so excited.  It was even more difficult to keep the fact that we’d be attending the Clancy tour together in Toronto a secret from Kaitie for the next month and a half until her birthday.  

Her birthday was tøp themed, decked out with our Bandito Tour flag, the Hot Topic Clancy Album release poster and tøp records all over our dining room.  Our mom, another avid tøp fan, made a Clancy themed cake in which she hid the concert tickets in Kaitie’s piece. I’ve never seen my sister cry so many tears of joy, except maybe when she was at the actual show.  Later on in the evening I surprised her with tickets to the Fan Premier Exhibit; F.P.E. (iykyk). The rest of the summer was spent preparing our outfits and letting the anticipation build; this included blocking tøp’s social media accounts, fan accounts, their wives accounts, etc. so we could avoid spoilers and go into the show completely blind. 

Many fans weren’t sure what to expect when Clancy was initially announced.  Since their 2009 debut, tøp is not afraid to shy away from new sounds and styles, switching it up ever-so-slightly each album cycle while still maintaining an authentic sound that is signature to only them. Drawing inspiration from a wide array of genres including electronica, rock, alternative pop and punk among others, tøp is able to pull elements of each together to create a sound that is truly their own on each album. Sonically, Clancy is most similar to Vessel and Trench, but even calls back to the 2009 self-titled debut album on tracks like “Vignette”, the chorus of which resembles “The Pantaloon”. 

 Something that is very consistent throughout each of tøp’s albums from 2009 to 2025 is the themes of overcoming negativity and the darker parts of ourselves.  This has been the main arc in the storyline that officially began with 2015’s Blurryface, but began being sprinkled in even in the self-titled album.  However, Clancy is the first album to take a confident, mature approach to this enemy, often referred to as Blurryface or Nico. 

The shock on fans’ faces hearing “Paladin Strait” for the first time was even more intense than the intro to “Overcompensate”.   Before playing the last track, Joseph teases fans, “you tell me if this sounds like the end” referring to the end of the storyline. Since the album Blurryface, Blurryface/Nico has been represented by the pitched-down vocals and he was not heard throughout Clancy until the very end: “So Few. So Proud. So Emotional.  Hello Clancy”…it’s safe to say fans were stunned at the callback to the very first F.P.E. revealed in Blurryface’s “Fairly Local”. It was clear upon hearing this, that it could not be the end, we were close to the finish line, but not quite there yet. 

 In Clancy we finally see a new perspective from someone who is the closest they’ve ever been to defeating this negativity; someone who can recognize their own faults and grow from it, “Overcompensate”; someone who can find hope even in the lowest moments, “Next Semester”; someone who can fight their insecurities, “Backslide”; someone who isn’t afraid of who they’ve been and where they came from no matter it’s implications, “Midwest Indigo”; someone who no longer fears the night, but embraces it, “Routines in the Night”; someone who is capable of overcoming their weaknesses, “Vignette”; someone who isn’t afraid to be vulnerable, “The Craving”; someone who knows what they deserve, “Lavish”; someone who knows it’s okay to slow down, “Navigating”; someone who knows setbacks are inevitable, but can bounce back from them, “Snap Back”; someone who’s hardships have made them stronger, “Oldies Station”; someone who is always looking out for others, “At the Risk of Feeling Dumb”; and lastly, someone who is determined to persevere regardless, “Paladin Strait”. 

All of the above concepts explored throughout the Clancy album are what made it so essential to my wellbeing during the last four months of 2024 and even now.  Although it resonated with me beforehand, I did not know that Clancy would become a crutch when my life would take a turn for the worst in September. 

Over the summer, I travelled, partied, listened to great new music, wrote exciting new music, and was falling in love in the way that for the first time I was excited about the future regardless of what it entailed; I was excited to get older and see the world and experience it with this person who became so special and prominent in my life, Marcus.  Unfortunately, we were long-distance and only saw each other when I was in Toronto, and he was planning to come to my city too.  However, this distance didn’t keep us apart, we spent hours a day talking over text, phone calls, video chats etc. and were planning when we would see each other next.  

The Clancy World Tour I would attend happened to be taking place in Toronto so it made sense to plan our next visit that week. When I arrived in Toronto that week, I hadn’t heard from Marcus for three and was deeply concerned; either something terrible had happened or he was an asshole and simply didn’t want to see me anymore, I was hoping for the latter. My mission upon arrival in Toronto was to get to his work (the hotel where I met him) and find out what was going on.  Unfortunately, it was the worst possible case scenario and something I had suspected, but tried to push away from my mind.  Marcus passed away unexpectedly and far too young. 

The rest of the week was dull; the magic of a bustling city was drained to a shallow grey and it rained almost the whole time.  I tried to keep a smile on my face and appreciate the time I got to spend with my mother and sister, but it was hard.  Falling asleep in an uncomfortable hotel bed was hard enough as is, now it was nearly impossible and sleep was tainted by questions of what if’s and maybe’s. 

 

Our last day in Toronto, September 27, was the big day and I woke up with butterflies in my stomach.  As I was getting ready the anticipation built and I felt genuinely excited. 

We arrived at the venue early for the F.P.E. event and I was reminded of how much I love this fandom; the Skeletøn Clique.  Just waiting in line Kaitie and I made so many friends which we would go through the event with.  All of us complimenting each other’s outfits, trading bracelets and theories, relearning and teaching each other the “Stressed Out” handshake, signing flags, spreading the details of fan projects, taking photos and singing. 

For the sake of time and length I won’t go into too much detail about the event since I already wrote an article on it which you can read here. 

Only two nights before, I was standing in the same arena with Kaitie, only everyone was wearing heart-cutout dresses and ribbons, ready for Sabrina Carpenter to take the stage on the second night of the Short n’ Sweet Tour.  However, that show couldn’t take the pain away, in fact it only seemed to make it worse at the time to the point I couldn’t really enjoy the show. 

It’s different now, standing in a sea of red and yellow duct tape, clancy beanies and stoles, and Bandito camo attire.  There’s an energy that is contagious you can’t help, but feel excited and let go of the pain for a couple hours.  That is the kind of community and environment this band has created that follows everywhere they go.  Before long “what’s your ETA?” is heard over the intercom, “two minutes!” fans shout in response.  Exactly two minutes later the lights go out and the opening notes to “Overcompensate” rumble through the arena. 

I’m also not going to go into detail about the whole show because I wrote an article on that too, which you can read here.

Even after the show was over, Clancy had the same effect. Less than a month later, I would lose my Aunt at the age of 36 to cancer.  This was also difficult to swallow as despite the cruelty of the disease, she was a fighter and I never imagined we’d lose her to it and so young.  It was hard not to shut down after two significant losses and both people so young with so many fulfilling years ahead of them.  I’ll never be over it and I’ll never understand why it had to happen, it’s a grief that still haunts me everyday, however, I can handle it a little better now, but it’s still not easy.  

In the immediate moments afterwards, Clancy is the album that got me out of bed and helped me get things done.  It allowed me to forget my pain and just relive the show.  Kaitie and I would play the album front-to-back often and everytime without fail, by the time the beat drops in the “Overcompensate” intro we are up, smiling, laughing, dancing and singing, feeling genuine joy. 

Inadvertently, I think we also learned to adopt the traits I associated earlier with each track to a degree.  We learned how to live with grief this heavy and continue to pursue our dreams despite it; how to push on through.

I know I’m not the only person who has found peace in this record among hardships in their life, I’m sure many people have also been dealing with more difficult scenarios, however, this isn’t something we compare. I appreciate Clancy for the way it has been there to bring light to the darkest moments and continues to do so.  It teaches us that we do not have to let the dark consume us, but can live with it and overcome it. 

 

In terms of what’s next, tøp recently announced their next album, Breach, confirming our double album theories which have been developing since before Clancy’s original release-date on May 17 last year.  Breach seems to share the same aesthetic to Clancy and is the first time in their career tøp has put an album out less than two years after the last, for these reasons I’m certain it’s a part of the Clancy era rather than its own. Breach is supposedly the end of the storyline as the boys write: “hello Clancy, hello Blurryface, let’s finish this”, after revealing the first single, “The Contract” will be out on June 12.  

There has also been rumours that tøp has supposedly switched labels, which would be amazing considering Fueled By Ramen is not the most supportive to their artists, especially the defiant ones like tøp.  However, this has not been confirmed yet, though Joseph did launch his own independent label, Arro, last year. 

 

This article has been long so I’m going to end it here and do another one on my theories and predictions for Breach.  Thank you for reading this far.  I was inspired by Ryan Bird’s style and approach to his articles for this one; incorporating factual knowledge and opinions on the record with personal anecdotes and connections.  It was really fun to write this way and if well-received I might do it more!  Again thank you, for reading, Clancy is such a special album to me and I could go on talking about it forever.