“Clancy” by Twenty One Pilots: All 13 songs ranked

Joseph has mastered the art of turning his angst into arena-worthy anthems, but this song's rough, laconic beat and spare instrumentation don't exactly match the catchy chorus, “If I wanna snap necks, then I gotta to hit back.” Unless, of course, that's the point.

This song is a tight encapsulation of 21 P's work, opening with birdsong, a softly strummed ukulele and Joseph screaming to carve a path back to his beloved. As the tempo picks up on this six-minute journey (which ends with more birds and a hidden coda that seemingly wraps up Clancy's saga), the lyrics come into focus as they reveal a story deeper than a literal death-defying swim to safety and security.

21P excels in the slow-building song where Joseph sings sloppily until it peaks as his stress level rises, only to shift into a lament about the road you didn't take or a wrong turn. In fact, one of the thrusts of this mid-tempo track seems to be a mea culpa for the poppy songs from the previous band Scaled & Frozen album, “Saturday,” with Joseph singing, “Kind of Wish I never did 'Saturday.' Do you think now is the time to let go?” as the song dissolves into a jazz keyboard.

A dreamy, slow ballad about night terrors and the things that hit your brain, “Routines” is another rap/sung anxiety monster that feels like the awkward moment before your eyelids finally droop, fearing what might be the bring darkness. With a metronomic beat and keyboard washes, Joseph perfectly encapsulates what it's like to fight insomnia when he softly sings, “While all the worlds sleep, I walk instead/ Through the memories, under my head.”

One of the most ambitious pieces Clancy“Vignette” opens with an orchestral flourish and swings in and out of a variety of moods—from the fiddle-spiked opening to a rapped opening verse, the frenetic pre-chorus, and the rafters' falsetto chorus, where Joseph sings, “Clinging to the promises, fight vignette/Cave of tunnels, visions fade, swallowed by vignette.” The whole thing ends with 1970 keyboards and the repeated mantra “No, not me, it's for a friend”.

Opening with carnivalesque instrumentation and a distant vocal from Joseph, this reggae-tinged pop-rap tune has one of the album's catchiest choruses — for a song that, like some of 21P's best tracks, hasn't settled into one genre for a long time. After the sweet chorus, “Welcome to the new way of life/ It's just the beginning of floor-to-ceiling luxury,” the track runs through a pair of rappy verses with shades of Eminem's flow, before settling back into a dreamy groove.

Joseph's punchy bassline propels this fast-paced, somewhat predictable rocker, which feels like a throwback to the band's earlier days with its staccato drum mix, buried keyboard drones and bright piano. “Indigo” occasionally flashes with the fire-ready energy that fuels some of 21P's most endearing live set tracks, as the lyrics explore the angst of time.

No one wants to be seen at their worst. Who can relate? While this 21P has a predictable composition of crunchy Dun beats and a heavy, heavy guitar swell for the chorus. The message about keeping your loved ones close when you need them (but more importantly, when they need you) is vital: “So keep in mind/ Check on your friends/ Every once in a while/ Even if they say/ At the risk of feel dumb, check in.”

As someone who has seen 21P at least a dozen times, listening Clancy kept turning into a game of “What will this look like live?” And “Oldies Station” feels like it'll be the kind of track the Skeleton Clique fan base will heartily embrace for its demon-overcoming lyrics of encouragement (“Make a vow and make mistakes/ Start a streak you're sure to break”). and a chorus of 'When the dark rolls on you/ Push on through' that's sure to ring the rafters.

There comes a time in every 21 P show (and album) where Dun takes a dust off from shredding his kit to let Joseph hit his acoustics and go into singer-songwriter mode. This wonderfully spare (whistling!) ballad about whether the love you give is equal to the love you get is a gem you can already picture lighting up an arena with phone flashlights. And, look at the way Joseph's voice breaks perfectly near the end when he sings, “But I swear I'll give more than I get.”

The album's bull-rush first single is initially heard on Dun's crunchy kick drum before dropping to a less intense beat as Joseph rhymes/toasts the lines with Clancy's mythological references to the “symbol of bending”, the “prodigal son” and the bow. to the masses”. It's a track with the kind of crowd pleasers that inevitably become an integral part of the all-are-welcome, high-energy 21P live experience.

A chaotic new wave sprint, “Next Semester” is full-tilt boogie 21P, with Dun playing triple beats over Joseph's frantic vocals about the terrors of anxiety (including the line “can you die of anxiety?”) . The frenetic heart beat slows near the end as Joseph gently taps his acoustic, crooning, “It's a taste test for what I hate least/ I don't want to be here” on a track that contemplates suicide and feels like you don't I belong, but I can't find a way out either.

Clancy highlight “Navigating” has elements of Berlin's new wave keyboard pop that practically screams for a video featuring a parade of parachute pants, guyliner, and blowout hair. (The band announced that they pushed back the album's release date by a week to finish making videos for each track, so there's hope for a Flock of Seagulls-esque visual.) The second half of the song adds a powerful bassline that doesn't it would be out of place on a New Order B-side, as Joseph emphasizes that he lost his connection and sensed the finality of it all after his grandmother's death.