In light of recent events, it’s been a minute since I have written anything. Admittedly, I’ve been struggling with my mental health and some personal issues lately, along with working myself into a hole. With the state things are in due to Covid-19, I will be off work and self isolating at home for the foreseeable future. All of this time has allowed me to revisit hobbies I have missed dearly, writing for this blog being at the top of my list.
It’s no secret that I am a long time fan of Twenty One Pilots, yesterday they released a new single called ‘Level of Concern.’ This is the first single since the band’s fourth studio album ‘Trench’ was released in October of 2018. The lead singer, Tyler Joseph, teased the release of this track and it’s music video just a day before it’s release. It was a surprise to everyone, as the band is known for being very cryptic with their music and releases.
As far as I can tell, this single doesn’t seem to follow the narrative of any previous albums, it stands on it’s own, in more ways than one. At a first listen, I was overcome by an 80’s synth-pop vibe. This song covers all of the bases from guitar, drums and keyboard. Arguably, it is quite different from anything they have done in the past, but still sounds like Twenty One Pilots down to it’s core. The most relevant body of music I can think to compare this track to is Tame Impala’s 2015 album ‘Currents.’ Though they are both very unique, I think they capture the same nostalgic energy and retro vibe.
‘Level of Concern’ truly is a quarantine bop.
“Panic on the brain, world has gone insane. Things are starting to get heavy” / “Wondering would you be my little quarantine, or is this the way it ends?”
Tyler’s lighthearted take on the pandemic we are all living though and adapting to daily gives me a comforting sense of normalcy in that we truly are all dealing with this together, regardless of money, fame or social status. It’s making me miss all of the concerts that have been postponed and cancelled due to the circumstances.
Along with the release of the single, Twenty One Pilots also released an adorable music video for it as well. The video stars Tyler Joseph (vocalist, guitar, bass, etc), his wife Jenna, and the newest edition to their family, Rosie. Along with band mate and drummer Josh Dun, and his fiance Debby Ryan.
The video depicts a very wholesome process of Tyler adding to and editing the video for the track on a thumb drive and sending it over to Josh in the mail for him to do the same. This goes on until the video is complete, and shows how even in a time of social distancing, they are still making music together. The homemade video already has nearly 5 million views, I’ve linked it below in case you want to check it out.
The release of ‘Level of Concern’ couldn’t have came at a better time for me personally, it launched me out of this creative depression I have been in lately and has given me something to be passionate about again, I look forward to writing more as the days go on, hopefully others follow in Twenty One Pilots footsteps and keep creating music while practicing social distancing.
Modernity Vs. Music with Kylee 