Friday, Twenty One Pilots delivered fans their newest album “Breach,” revealing how their music’s narrative story ends and climbing to number seven on iTunes top albums during its first day.
The two-man band from Columbus, Ohio, began their musical career in 2009, using their discography to discuss topics ranging from mental health to love. Including producing a full-fledged narrative story with their album “Blurryface.”
Through a combination of song lyrics, social media posts and their website, Twenty One Pilots managed to tell the story of Clancy, a fictional character, who attempts to escape a dystopian city called Dema and take down the nine bishops.
The cover of “Breach” keeps the MS Paint aesthetic of “Clancy,” but with a calmer red and black color scheme. Singer Tyler Joseph and drummer Josh Dun appear front and center, their spacing and lighting forming a skull when blurred.
Reddit users micoryee, Jamieyo7 and TaylorJJ made posts connecting the imaginary to the narrative villain Blurryface, also known as Nicolas Bourbaki, the bishop’s leader.
Before the album’s official release, two of the 13 songs from the tracklist were released as singles.
“The Contract” starts right where “Paladin Straight,” the last song from the previous album, ends, and takes an eerie tone. Its lyrics and music video set the stage for the rest of the album while depicting the internal struggle between Clancy and the bishops.
“Now I plead, just take the deal / I promised you a contract,” Joseph sang.
The second single, “Drum Show,” departs from the story as a song for the band’s drummer. This is the first song where Dun takes the lead vocal role while drumming a rocker-band style melody, showing how much he has grown.
“I think being a two-person band, we’ve always challenged each other to kind of expand or push ourselves a little bit more,” Dun said in an interview with BBC’s Radio 1. “I think putting yourself in a situation that’s a little uncomfortable is fun.”
The song “Robot Voices” is a direct collaboration between Twenty One Pilots and Blanket Approval. According to a Reddit ask me anything thread by Shane Hogan, one of the co-songwriters, the song used parts from Blanket Approval’s “My Soft Spots My Robots.”
“Cottonwood,” “Days Lie Dormant,” “One Way” and “Intentions” take a more somber mode. They cover topics from Joseph’s grandfather's passing, missing family while on tour and the band’s goals after the album.
A couple of the tracks dive into the topic of mental health. “RAWFEAR” tackles anxiety. In part of the song, Joseph urgently mentions his anxious thoughts while mimicking a panic attack. Joseph uses songs like “Garbage” and “Tally” to discuss wanting to retreat into a state of mental struggle because of the familiarity it provides.
“Center Mass” pairs a synth background with lyrics to express Joseph being put down by his insecurities. The way music serves as an escape for Joseph away from his fears is expressed in “Downstairs.”
Twenty One Pilots' decade-long narrative ends with “City Walls,” the first song listed in the album. In the music video, Clancy goes toe-to-toe against Bourbaki in an epic final battle.
In an interview with BBC Radio 1, Joseph said they spent a million dollars on the video.
Throughout the battle, Clancy experiences flashbacks to previous songs, such as “Heavydirtysoul,” “Jumpsuit” and “Levitate.” To add to the battle and express its finality, the track mixes together the iconic rap-rock, piano beats and pop-punk style the band is known for.
At the end, Joseph defeats Nicolas Bourbaki but becomes the thing he has been trying to defeat, representing the fact mental health is truly a tough cycle and bringing the story to a close.
Joseph told BBC’s Radio 1, after they do their tour, The Clancy Tour: Breach, the band plans to take a break from touring to be with family, not knowing when they will be back.
“In no way are we saying this is our farewell tour,” Joseph said. “This is not the last time we’re going to tour here, coming up in the fall in the States, but I need to feel like we don’t know when the next time is … So, I’m actually really excited about what’s created inside a timeline where there is no impending deadline.”
