Twenty One Pilots, Backslide | Song Review 🎵

Twenty One Pilots continues to engage on “Backslide,” the third single and third track from their seventh studio LP, Clancy. 

“Idon’t wanna…” And so, begins “Backslide”, the third single from Clancy, the seventh studio album by Twenty One Pilots (Tyler Joseph and Josh Dun). “Backslide” follows two awesome advanced singles in “Overcompensate” and “Next Semester”.  Also, interesting is the sequence of singles, which were released in the order of their track listing on Clancy – first, second, and third track of the album, respectively. “Backslide” marks another intriguing musical offering from the duo.  Furthermore, it differentiates itself from the two singles that precede.

“Backslide” is sleekly produced. That is the expectation from a Twenty One Pilots song.  Joseph produces alongside Paul Meany, a terrific tandem.  Elements of the backdrop that stand out are a dope beat, ear-catching synths, and sound effects.  The accompaniment is unique and makes “Backslide” intriguing. Another constant of a Twenty One Pilots song? The performance of Tyler Joseph, who always brings swagger to his performances.  The songwriting is always engaging and entrenched within concepts and relating to previous songs. A stellar lyric from the first verse: “Take the seat with the crease in it / I don’t mind if it’s lonely / I don’t mind if it’s fair.”  In the chorus, he is passionate and overt, and finishes the cliffhanging ‘intro’ of the song:

“I don’t wanna backslide to where I’ve started from

There’s no chance I will shake this again

‘Cause I feel the pull, water’s over my head

Strength enough for one more time

Reach my hand above the tide… ”

Is the chorus tuneful? Not the most tuneful you’ve ever heard but, again, intriguing. During the second verse, he raps, accompanied by additional unique sounds and effects (“Are you doin’ good? / Did you solve all of your problems?”). Ultimately, “Backslide” is another engaging piece of the Clancy pie – decadent with its ambitiousness, energy, and enigma. Furthermore, it is another compelling part of the Twenty One Pilots catalog.

Twenty One Pilots // Clancy // Fueled By Ramen // 5.24.24

[📷: Brent Faulkner/The Musical Hype; Fueled By Ramen; Clker-Free-Vector-Images, Królestwo Nauki, OpenClipart-Vectors, Pete Linforth, Tumisu from Pixabay]