Album: Twenty-One Pilots, Trench

Poor Tyler Joseph. The Twenty One Pilots frontman writes a semi-concept album about being ‘Stressed Out’ and now, three years later, that track has been streamed two billion times – and the Ohio two-piece have been catapulted into the intense glare of stardom.

Joseph’s creative response is to intensify his world-building schemes. Trench is set in an oppressive city named Dema, where depression reigns unchecked. Joseph’s character Clancy fights against Bishops who aim to keep people from seeking help. But what about the music? The album flies out of the traps with opener ‘Jumpsuit’, built around a thundering bass riff that shows off the industrial production of Paul Meaney, who does fantastically well to tie the duo’s hyperactive kitchen-sink range of sounds together.

Joseph’s commendable rapping skills are best illustrated on ‘Levitate’, and the pop sensibilities that have earned them their audience are on full display on ‘The Hype’, which is sure to become an alternative anthem.

The theatre doesn’t always hold up. The refrain of “You know I had to do one on the record for her like this” in ‘Smithereens’ is a tribute to Joseph’s wife, but it’s very corny. The second half of the record is full of slower numbers like ‘Bandito’, which are damp squibs if you’re not fully buying in.

Twenty One Pilots’ label, Fuelled by Ramen, built its foundations on bands like Paramore, that cultivate intense teenage fervour. In today’s ‘stan culture’, Joseph’s clever breadcrumbing of lyrical clues allows fans to bond over their shared community – and will have obsessives debating on Genius.com for months. Post-streaming teens now have their Black Parade.

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7/10