Twenty One Pilots. Hailing from Columbus, Ohio, the group made waves in the mid to late 2010s with hits such as “Stressed Out,” “Ride,” “Heathens,” and more. Though they began as a band in 2009, they have spent the vast majority of their tenure as a duo, consisting of vocalist Tyler Joseph and drummer Josh Dun. Their sound is often categorized as a mix of indie pop, rock, and occasionally hip-hop, and they have spent much of their discography exploring these genres and carving out a unique sound for themselves in the process. Ever since their 2013 album “Vessel,” they have also created a connecting story with their albums, one which can be read through and dissected online through their music videos. It appears that their most recent album, “Breach,” is the true finale to their story, which has made the album’s release important to many TOP (Twenty One Pilots) fans. As I am writing this, I myself am not the most familiar with the lore behind their albums, but even so, I have been a big fan of their music ever since I heard their 2018 album “Trench.” I saw them live on “The Clancy World Tour” in 2024 in Columbus, and “Breach” has been one of my most anticipated records of the year. Now, I will go into my thoughts on “Breach” from a musical standpoint, and see: how does this album hold up?
When I first heard the singles for this album, “The Contract and “Drum Show,” I thought the album would fit the darker tone of their projects “Trench” and “Clancy,” and that the album would go in more of an aggressive rock-oriented direction. The first song on the album, and one of its strongest, “City Walls,” fits my assumption. After opening with fuzzy guitar tones and reverbed vocals, it kicks off the album in epic fashion, with a fantastic pop chorus and rap verses paired with thrilling rock instrumentation. Even as the song slows in its bridge and speeds back up again in its outro, its intensity never lets up. I find it to be one of TOP’s best songs ever, and it sets up the album to fit a grander scale, especially when paired with the cinematic million dollar budget music video. However, the second track “RAWFEAR” was the first to make me rethink the album. The song lyrically focuses on paranoia and always feeling on guard, continuing TOP’s themes of mental health that are often a focal point within their music. However, with a more pop sound, and a more relaxed instrumental compared to “City Walls” and the singles, I was somewhat surprised by the song, even though it kept up the album’s pace. Though the track didn’t do much for me, with what I saw as a more forgettable instrumental and chorus, it fit in the tracklist. However, during the first half of the album, I did see that most of the songs fit the darker tone I had come to expect.
The two singles off of the album fit in its first half. “Drum Show,” the second single, is a rock track about using music to drown out one’s stress and surroundings and comes with distorted guitar riffs, a powerful drumming performance from Josh, and screams and yells near the end from Tyler. “The Contract,” the first single, has Tyler singing in a higher register about unkept promises, lost sleep, and hallucinations, as Josh crashes through on breakbeat-style drums over an instrumental of synths, pianos, and background vocals. Both songs hit more of a rock edge, even though the latter barely uses guitars, and they keep a lyrical focus on paranoia, emotional numbness, and guilt. I still find them to be two of the strongest tracks on the album, and I think the duo does a great job of framing these issues in their own compelling way musically, as they still combine features from pop, rap, and rock in a unique manner. “Garbage,” sandwiched between the two singles, however, is one of my favorite songs on the album. The track is about, basically, “feeling like garbage:” exhausted, depressed, and like you have nowhere to go. The melancholic piano chords throughout the track, the catchy chorus, and Tyler’s emotive yells of “Don’t you give up on me” are very powerful, and to me this track, even though less intense stylistically than the songs preceding and following it, hits hard from a lyrical and emotional standpoint. “Downstairs,” near the midpoint of the album, is the last song I would consider “intense.” The song’s chorus pummels in and out, as guitars and drums crash in every other beat with Tyler’s vocals. Even so, the track balances its intensity with mellower moments, such as the pre-choruses and the intro, and shifts into a key change later in the track. I believe the song is about hiding yourself and your emotions away from others, all while feeling guilty and ashamed for doing so. It’s a complicated topic that, again, is conveyed in an interesting and epic way.
The second half of this album is where “Breach” surprised me, however. Most of the songs in the second half lean further towards indie pop than the rock influenced songs preceding them, though certain songs sound cinematic in their own way. “Robot Voices” is a sweet indie pop/rock track about finding comfort and love, and allowing yourself to let your guard down. “Center Mass” is a pop rap track about finding ways to hide and make yourself smaller when feeling under attack. I enjoy the melodies and overall catchiness on “Robot Voices,” though “Center Mass,” like “RAWFEAR,” just goes right by me. I just don’t have much to say about it. Though all of the songs on the album have poppy choruses to some degree, these two songs signal the album moving even further into a pop sound and taking on a more mellow tone, though this by no means indicates the album will refrain from melancholy sounds and tackling difficult issues. “Cottonwood” is what I would consider the most melancholic song on the album, and it was written about Tyler’s late grandfather. The song, the first half of which is backed by just piano and drums, shows Tyler reflecting on the memories of his grandfather as he likens him to a tree that has been “chopped down.” Along with “Garbage,” I find it to be one of the most powerful and solemn moments on the album, and it’s a very vulnerable song from Tyler. I appreciate how personal the song is, and I think it sticks out in this album and in their discography. “One Way” is a pretty catchy song about feeling confined and unable to “fly,” perhaps by someone else’s limitations. I’m a big fan of the chorus on that song, even if I am not sure the track adds much to the album.
“Days Lie Dormant” and “Tally” end the album in a very triumphant fashion, as the songs mix elements of pop and rock together. The former is about missing someone and feeling lost in a city without them, almost feeling bored without them there, and the latter is about feeling as if you have let someone down and feeling confused as they continue to be there for you. The two songs end the album off strongly, especially “Tally,” which has grown on me a lot through repeated listens. It has one of the best choruses on the album, and I love Josh’s drum work on this song, as well as on “Days Lie Dormant.” Though not as dark as the beginning of the album, it’s a thrilling couple of tracks before the final track: “Intentions.” This song ends the album off on a slow, bittersweet note, with the instrumental apparently being a reversed loop of an early TOP song titled “Truce.” Almost feeling like an epilogue to the TOP story, it ends the album while simultaneously ending the lore that the duo has been building on for years.
My thoughts on the album overall are that this was a pretty good, and often great, album by TOP. Though there are certain songs I have little to say about, many tracks stuck out to me as emotional and personal, playing to the duo’s strengths as they deliver many of their most powerful songs and performances this decade. I like and appreciate how the group continues to deal with topics of mental health in a way that feels personal and unique to them, and even though the album was not what I expected, I found some of its strongest moments could still be its most solemn. My favorite songs would have to be “City Walls,” “Garbage,” and “Tally,” though I encourage you to listen to the album yourself and form your own opinions.
Photo taken by Samantha Madar of the Columbus Dispatch
