The return of tøp: our inner middle schooler awakens

Graphic by Avary Amaral

By Izzie Claudio

If you were in middle school when twenty one pilots’ third album Blurryface came out in 2015, chances are you were entranced by their alternative rock sound. Twenty one pilots, made up of Tyler Joseph and Josh Dunn, seemed to have a chokehold on pre-teens and teens alike. In the depth of early teenage angst, solace was found in their lyrics. They were able to capture the emotional turmoil of being lost in anxiety, yet also provide messages of hope. It was the perfect balance for the pre-teen brain dealing with issues of self-worth. 

The song “Migraine” speaks to the overwhelming nature of hopelessness, putting it on the same plane as the physical experience of a migraine. The chorus emulated a feeling many had as a pre-teen: no one understands. “Am I the only one I know / Waging my wars behind my face and above my throat? / Shadows will scream that I’m alone / But I know we made it this far, kid.” As seen in the lyrics and heard in the tune, twenty one pilots combine dark emotional moments with a light at the end of the tunnel. In a way, they validated our feelings and reminded us that it gets better. After the renowned Blurryface era, they went on to release two more albums, slightly shifting their sound. At the same time, we were settling into high school and growing into our emotions. twenty one pilots remind us of what may have been a low point in our lives, but they also got us through the low points. 

On Feb. 22, the duo released a video recounting the lore that connects all of their albums. The throughline story was always a topic of discussion as fans were never sure what the specifics were, so this video sent a shock wave across the internet as the middle schooler in us reemerged. The video concluded with an announcement that something new was on the horizon. To further feed our old excitement of finding easter eggs to piece together the story, they altered all of their album covers with a piece of red tape covering every set of eyes. Questions are brewing and the middle schooler in us anxiously awaits what comes next. 

Then, on February 29th, twenty one pilots returned with a bang. Their new single “Overcompensate” transports listeners to the 2015 Blurryface era, with Joseph’s hard-hitting rap verses discussing his personal growth and an instrumentation full of a dark undertone. After an eerie intro, Dunn comes crashing in on the drums, setting the stage for a stark shift from their last album Scaled and Icy. The melody in the chorus will immediately get stuck in your head in proper twenty one pilots fashion. The lyrics are oozing with story elements that build on to the detailed lore behind all the albums. Joseph proudly proclaims, “If you can’t see, I am Clancy / prodigal son done running.” The middle school in me, and in many, is hyped to hear that this song includes plenty of elements from their old music. Their new album Clancy will be out on May 17, bringing about a new chapter to their story fueled with their old sound.