A few days ago, the duo-band twenty one pilots screamed a wake-up call to all the fans and the lore theorists with their four minute-trailer titled, “I Am Clancy” to their official websites and social media accounts, hinting for a newer era to continue the debacle between the Bishops and the Banditos setting the stage within Dema.
The trailer, in case people have forgotten about where they left off the last time, allowed us to transcend back to a time where the story begins. The voice of Tyler Joseph immediately started the clip but spoke more as if he was in the persona of Clancy. “I am trapped,” said he, after being stuck in a cycle that he has never been able to break.
The first parts of the video simply implied that the lore included their previous records, especially with their 2015 breakthrough record Blurryface, a record highlighting one’s insecurities and the constant battle of marring with the cranial wars. As their popular record progressed, there was a certain urge to seek freedom, but the mind itself is a labyrinth, making it hard to leave. It can be further elaborated in the album’s closer, “Goner,” as he stated, “The ghost of you is close to me,” which could mean that he’s still in that phase and never won but has somehow opened his eyes. Then, as he screamed midway, he decided to cling on with, “Don’t let me be gone.”
He then discussed his upbringing as a citizen of Dema, a “circular-cemented city” throughout the greener pastures of Trench, and uncovering the deep and hidden controversial truths about it—how the ones who govern Dema, the Bishops wearing in their red cloaks and led by Nico, often tracked those who tried to escape, how they rule both “miraculous power” and “hijacked religion,” and how it all created the virtue of Vialism, anchored with a belief that in order to transcend towards the afterlife, one has to undergo self-destruction.
Whether intentional or not, this could trace back to a line from an album before Blurryface, Vessel, which states that, “Sometimes, to stay alive, you’ve got to kill your mind.” Clancy has been living with such culture of how subverting oneself to death is essential to life before he started to use his power of discernment to the ‘happenstance.’
As the trailer continues, he proceeded to say, “I am a citizen. I am an escapee. I am an exception to the rule.” Clenching the idea of him as a citizen of Dema, it has already been established that he already lived during the making of the aforementioned records. But, as an escapee, this now ties in with Blurryface and their pristine 2018 hit Trench, the record where he decided to do something with what he learned about the shenanigans by joining the forces with the Banditos, described as myths to Dema but were deemed to be real and are considered to be the rebels to the Bishops. Unfortunately, as the trailer suggests, he was still tracked down, but there’s a trace of hope in the midst of still being imprisoned.
This intensifies the lyric from one of Trench’s singles, Nico and the Niners, which he rapped repeatedly, “We’ll win but not everyone will get out,” which could give us a visual of how his plan to escape still failed. In addition, towards the closer of the record, he sang with such conviction and with repetition, “They know that it’s almost over,” leaving such footprints that the volume is about to close its curtain.
However, things shifted, and the majority of fans have witnessed such massive changes with their overall brighter and more synth-poppy approach in their 2021 record Scaled and Icy, with him stating, “I became known in Dema. The Bishops did not like this but decided to use it to their advantage.” Throughout this particular era, there was a noticeable alteration with their appearance, and even with their music video thumbnails, musical production, simply-structured lyrics. However, there was a speculation that Scaled and Icy is an anagram for “Clancy is Dead,” and since it is Dema that has the most control over that record, they have done all their parts to uncover the truth that Clancy is actually alive, and he is speaking, announcing his comeback in Trench after staying for a while at Voldsoy, an island nearby.
As the trailer ends, there emerges heavily dark-inspired soundscapes that could possibly be the sound of the newer record potentially being heard some time from now. The said music teaser had a voice over which sounded like of German language, which can be translated into, “This small island has made me a weapon.”
For the fans of the band, this has been a great news circulating since their 2021 release, and finally, in a session with Apple Music Interview host’s Zane Lowe, the era after the propagandistic Scaled and Icy i dos going to be the final chapter once he returns to Trench and bring such victory to the almost-decade lore.
You can watch the clip here:
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About the Author
Jett interestingly seeks every supposed-to-be-life-changing almost: getting a Bachelor’s degree in Secondary Education, submitting a finished compilation of epistles and poems to some book publications, and releasing passion projects to audio streaming platforms. However, his inkling of his pen and his reverberating of his music, being the ones that keep him sustained in somehows, never stop him from walking to a road yet to be taken.
SOBRANG EXCITED NA AKO SA NEW ERA NG TWENTY ONE PILOTS AAAAAAAAAAAA new personality boutta drop on May 17