Two days to go until the release of the highly anticipated album 'Clancy'. After pushing the release back a week, Twenty One Pilots have been playing a run of intimate shows across the USA and UK (which tickets were impossible to get but oh well) and at those shows they played a brand new track called 'The Craving'. I dodged all the leaks, and listened when it premiered today, so here are my thoughts on the new Twenty One Pilots track 'The Craving':
(Image from the music video of 'The Craving' - Twenty One Pilots 2024)
The opening feels like something straight from the Vessel days. The gentle ukulele and layered vocals are really reminiscent of their earlier discography in a way that I think will itch a lot of OG fans brains. The verse strips itself back and really lets you focus on the lyrics, which are written for his wife and brimming with emotion and love. There's this semantic field of being saved by someone, and craving for love and feeling like you belong, but needing support from someone without wanting to be overbearing. The second chorus adds in Josh Dun on the drums, and adds that final piece of texture in the track that you are really waiting on in the opening stripped back sections. It bleeds seamlessly into a beautiful instrumental section with layered vocals and gentle synths that make for a serene soundscape. Joseph has a real way with creating these layered moments in these new tracks that have a lot hidden away in the mix, but create these smooth layers that are so pleasing to the ear. The build reaches a climax on the final chorus, marrying everything together once again seamlessly. Although this track has no insane bass, no hidden layers (in it's audible contents...) it's a beautiful track that finishes off the quadrilogy of tracks written for Jenna Joseph that detail a really sweet bond between the two of them, and shows us a small intimate glimpse into their dynamic.
Now, we need to talk about the music video, because that has a lot more hidden in it - however, in my opinion, nothing to help along the Dema storyline. I think this music video is a reaction to the reception of 'Scaled and Icy'. In the video both Tyler and Josh go through effort to create and decorate things, with Dun carving and building a wooden box, and Joseph painting and decorating a shotgun shell. In a lot of ways this could be an extended metaphor of them putting the effort into their respective crafts, taking time and effort to create something people will like, but I think it goes a little deeper than just that.
I think the link to 'Scaled and Icy' is in the shotgun shell, which Tyler paints blue, and places two rabbits seemingly performing under a theatre curtain. The top of the shell is painted light blue and yellow, more colours from the palette of the record and placed into the box made by Dun. Not just this, but the rabbits performing could be a direct parallel to the characters of Clancy and the Torchbearer during the narrative of 'Scaled and Icy', made to perform for Dema. They present this shell to two men in suits, and the shell is loaded and fired, with the man declaring it 'a miss'. People famously disliked the 'Scaled and Icy' era, and I think this is commentary about the music industry and wider fanbases reaction to the record, deeming it bad before they gave it a real chance. And once that's done, they walk away, maybe to start the process all over again. I love the fact they're hiding little things like this in their videos, and that to this day they're flying the flag for visual media in music - it's an artform that's slowly dying out.
I'm really excited for this album to come out, and can't wait to listen to it through and let you know what I think. I know there have been listening parties and all of the lyrics of the tracks have been leaked, so far as to be on genius already, but I'm staying away as much as I can until the 24th. Till then!
Rating - 4/5
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