Twenty One Pilots Clancy Review After First Listen!!!

By Kayla Harper

 

After months of fan speculation of a new Twenty One Pilots album, Clancy was officially confirmed on February 29, 2024 along with the release of the lead single, “Overcompensate”.  This album brings us straight back into the lore that has been ongoing since lead-singer and writer, Tyler Joseph, began writing the bands second album, Regional At Best, which became Vessel.  The title, Clancy, is a direct reference to the main protagonist of the ongoing storyline as this character (Tyler) is named Clancy.  Various albums of the past have been from this character’s perspective including Vessel , Trench and now Clancy.

The most interesting part of the ongoing storyline Joseph conveys through this lineup of five albums, over the span of eleven years, is that it is a metaphor directly referencing injustices and power dynamics that exist in interactions in the real world within ourselves, between others and society.

As a fan of Twenty One Pilots since I was a young kid listening to Vessel in the back of my Dad’s car asking him to play it again, I couldn’t be more excited for this new era!

My sister and I did our usual albjm release routine which was to go buy t-shirts and then bake a cake of some sorts before logging onto the boys livestream to celebrate the release with them.  I have so many thoughts and emotion right now, so, I am going to be giving my review and thoughts on each track after first listen (aside from the singles which I’ve obviously listened to multiple times)!

*please excuse the informality of this article, it was written really fast and in an excited state because I wanted to get it posted as soon as possible!

1. Overcompensate

My sister and I both cried during our first listen of “Overcompensate”, especially at it’s direct references to the Trench album and storyline.  The “Bandito” sample in the intro, the “Welcome Back To Trench” (“Welcome To Trench” is a lyric in “Levitate” off of Trench), the first time Clancy’s name is said in a song, as well as the infamous mention of Josh Dun (There is a song on every album where Tyler says Josh’s name in the lyrics).  “Overcompensate”  is the perfect opening track, with the long intro to build up suspense before the beat drops.  The way Joseph and Dun crafted it to drop immediately after “Welcome Back To Trench” immediately gets fans excited and inserts them right back into the world of Trench.  In addition, although it is linked to the lore, like all of their songs, it is easily relatable to everyday life.  It seems to explain our tendency to ignore warnings, or not take time to assess our actions, “fly by the dangerous bend symbol”, until it’s too late “by the time [we] catch in [our] peripheral”  and then it takes more effort to compensate that loss than it would have if we hadn’t ignored the “dangerous bend symbol”. I couldn’t get enough of this track when it first dropped, or any of the singles for that matter!

 

2. Next Semester

The second single, “Next Semester”, was another instant favourite for me.  It holds some of Joseph’s most vulnerable lyrics on the album in as he seems to recall a hard time in his life and how he moved past it: “I remember certain things / what I was wearing, the yellow dashes in the street / I prayed those lights would take me home / then I heard ‘hey kid, get out of the road'”.  Additionally, the build up of the song and the way it almost transforms into a completely different vibe at the end reminds me of songs on many of their past albums such as, “The Judge”, “Ode To Sleep”, etc making it an instant classic Twenty One Pilots song.  There is a sense of hope in the way Joseph sings, “can’t change what you’ve done / start fresh next semester”.  I interpretate this lyric as not dwelling on the past because no amount of looking back will change what’s already happened, but instead to focus on what is ahead because that is what you can control.

 

3. Backslide

I can’t pick a favourite yet because once again, I was obsessed with “Backslide” as soon as I heard it.  It was one of my favourite music videos, I found the second verse really fascinating when Joseph is talking to the kid at the lemonade stand and it could almost be interpretated as a conversation with his younger self.  The song seems to be about falling back into unhealthy habits and trying not to, “I don’t wanna backslide to where I started from there’s no chance I will shake this again”.  Additionally, Joseph uses the imagery of drowning in the lyrics to signify this feeling struggle and trying to overcome defeat, which calls back to songs he has written in the past about being in a similar bad place, such as the song titled “Drown” on his solo album, No Phun Intended.

 

4. Midwest Indigo

“Midwest Indigo” was the first new song we heard on the album release livestream that hadn’t been released as a single previously.  It fits in perfectly with the singles we previously heard and flows out of the the three previous songs well.  The song almost seems like an ode to Ohio, Joseph and Dun’s hometown.  Although, it’s about Ohio some of the lyrics are quite reminiscent of where I’m from myself, “Running late so I didn’t have the time / to scrape the frosted windshield / like we’re barely scraping by”.  I love how Joseph goes on to add deeper meaning and symbolism to the imagery previously described in the following line, “concentrate on the little gap in the ice that seems to be about as wide as our chances”.

 

5. Routines In The Night

THANK YOU JOSH DUN. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU.  “Routines In The Night” was an instant favourite of mine (I’ll say that about most of the songs), as someone who often has those sleepless nights, and searches for deeper meanings in her dreams, I feel like this song was written for me!  In addition, the melody and beat was an immediate vibe that had my sister and I dancing in our seats while listening on the stream.  The reason I thanked Dun at the onset of this track review is because Jospeh explained on the stream that it would not have made the record if it weren’t for Dun’s encouragement and love of the song.  Also can I just mention how much I adore Joseph’s lyrics?! “So beautiful the space between / a painful reminder and a terrible dream” this one immediately stuck out to me.

 

6. Vignette

“Vignette” is probably one of my favourites instrumentally.  When my sister and I first heard Dun’s drums kick in we looked at each other and said, “he better come in rapping on this beat” and sure enough Joseph did not disappoint!  Of all the songs, “Vignette” is the most reminiscent of Blurryface to me.  It almost sounds as if Blurryface and Trench mixed together, with a sprinkle of Vessel.  I adore the way the intro is repeated in the chorus.

 

7. The Craving (Jenna’s Version)

When I tell you we were sobbing.  The video, the lyrics, the ukelele!  Joseph has raised our standards yet again.  Previously we heard “The Craving (single version)” as the final single before the album would be released.  The single version was more upbeat, radio friendly.  However, Jenna’s version has a more romantic tone to it.  The video for it features a montage of Jenna and Joseph throughout the years together.  Joseph never fails to write a romantic love song for his wife on every album.  Now I’m struggling to decide which one I’ll use as my first dance song when I get married one day.

 

8. Lavish

“Lavish” felt like a light-hearted, fun break on the album that was also different from anything we’ve heard from the pilots before, while still feeling somewhat familiar.  The music video was entertaining, clever and looked liked a process to edit as the boys posed in front of different signs and storefronts, dressed in suits and glasses, trying to find a word for every lyric.  I love this moment on the album because it’s always nice to have a song that breaks away from the deep themes discussed on the other tracks and just have fun and dance, (that is why I love “Saturday” so much I don’t care what anyone says, Scaled and Icy does NOT deserve the hate it gets).

 

9. Navigating

Once again, I would like to thank Dun for convincing Joseph to keep “Navigating” on the album.  During the livestream Joseph explained that not all videos are directly related to the lore because that takes a lot of time, effort and money which is fair.  However, “Navigating” was one of the videos that was, starting exactly where “Overcompensate” left off.  I absolutely love the drums and guitar in the beginning of this one, they resemble Trench to me, which is my favourite album. I like the way the song seems to resemble struggling to move forward as a result of overthinking a decision, event or current state of your life.  “I can’t seem to turn the page…pardon my delay / I’m navigating…my head”.

 

10. Snap Back

Maybe it’s the fact that Joseph shaves his head in the music video, but “Snap Back” reminds me of Vessel’s “Car Radio”-one of the band’s most iconic tracks.  “Snap Back” almost seems like a continuation of “Backslide” inferred from the line, “it’s a backslide”.  Almost as if despite Joseph’s pleading “I don’t want to backslide” he did anyway. This song perfectly encapsulates the frustration and depression that comes with returning back to a low place after working so hard to get out of it, as well as the strain it can cause you to put on those who you love, and push away the things, or people that are actually good for you: “Have I burnt all the bridges? Bite the hand that helps me, give it finger stitches”.

 

11. Oldies Station 

This was one another one of my favourite music videos.  It demonstrated how the band Twenty One Pilots hasn’t really changed much since the start, in the sense that it’s still just the two of them and their tight-knit team doing everything themselves.  This song is my sisters current favourite, she said it’s definitely going to be her new comfort song.  In a way it does bring great comfort, as it goes through the ups and downs of life and how these things change and strengthen us: “then before you know / you lose some people close / forcing you to manage your pace / found your capacity for love and tragedy / embracing how things always change”. Demonstrating that no bad experience is unique and you’re never really going through anything alone, nor are you the first or last to go through this, you will make it past it. “Make an oath, then make mistakes / start a streak you’re bound to break / when darkness rolls on you / push on through”. 

12.  At The Risk Of Feeling Dumb 

I really love this song.  It’s got a great message throughout the lyrics and catchy flow.  It starts out discussing our tendency to push people away when we’re going through bad things, and refuse people’s help: “I don’t want anyone, know me or not / see me at my lowest you don’t have to drop…anything for me”.  However, the song then goes on to discuss why it’s important to check in on your friends and loved ones despite what they say, despite being “At The Risk Of Feeling Dumb”: “at the risk of feeling dumb, check in / it’s not worth the risk of losing a friend”.  I think this song can be widely relatable from both perspectives as many of us tend to push people away and not want to put out problems on to them, at the same time we may refrain from checking in on people when they return that attitude to us.  Check in on your friends guys.  |-/

13. Paladin Strait 

As of now, Paladin Strait is the final song in the lore.  During the album release livestream, Joseph explained that the video for this song was not ready to be released at this time, but will be early June.  Instead they included a visualizer and told fans to focus on the lyrics.  I believe we can interpret Paladin Strait as Clancy, now within Trench, heading into the final battle with Nico.  “On the ground are banditos / fighting while I find Nico”.  However, at the end of the song he is face to face with Blurryface, who references lyrics from Blurryface’s “Fairly Local”: “So few, so proud, so emotional.  Hello Clancy.” The final battle does not yet occur, and before premiering the song, Joseph said: “you guys tell me if this sounds like the end”.  This has fans, including myself wondering if we’re getting a double or deluxe album!

 

Joseph and Dun have truly outdone themselves.  Dun’s work on the drums is outstanding, Jospeh’s vocals are impressively improved (even though they’ve always been amazing), as well as his work on production and other portions of the instrumental including the bass, guitar, ukelele , piano etc.  I have so many thoughts and so much more to say, but I wanted to get a brief overview with my first thoughts on each song out as soon as I could!