With twelve alternative radio No. 1s to their name, Ohio's Twenty One Pilots have been a consistent presence over the last decade. Where most bands would be changing their sound to keep up with the next generation, Twenty One Pilots is out to prove their worth to both their longtime fans and those finally ready for the emotional pull of their powerful Rock.
Since their major label debut, Vessel (2013), Tyler Joseph and Josh Dun have staunchly refused to settle on one genre-specific sound. Instead, they choose to borrow from hip-hop, electronic, classic rock, and hooky, traditional pop.
As always, the leading rock/alternative bands try their hardest to capture their live fury and the immediacy of performance in the more sterile environment of the studio. Given the time to experiment and carefully assemble Breach (2025), Twenty One Pilots is largely a leap forward because of its ability to chronicle their lives today.
Twenty One Pilot's Breach is methodical but emotionally charged
Over seven albums, Twenty One Pilots have developed a fairly balanced attack. The space between offers the duo a world-building experience to send fans scrambling after hidden messages and cryptic communiqués. Whether or not this is the end of the ongoing narrative, Breach (2025) is far more personal than their previous records.
"City Walls" opens the album with a cinematic flourish that ties you together with their ongoing existence as a "team" and the album title's concept of trying to leave their dystopic world. "RAWFEAR" is a steely single in wait with its bubbling intro and earnest rhymes.
The contrast between "empty Uzis" and "life is just forever nipping heels" is further aided by the song's EDM/hyperpop midpoint acceleration while Joseph drifts away calling for "slowing down."
"Drum Show" and "The Contract" could be the best pair of singles the 15-year-old band has released yet. While I am not entirely sure where "Drum Show" fits into the story, as another "escape," it works because of its simplicity. With Josh Dun pounding out the rhythm, Tyler Joseph's swooping bass line responds to their vocals, ranging from falsetto oohs to a slightly obscured screamo shriek.
"The Contract' is more sophisticated, calling back Depeche Mode and the building harmonies that brought listeners to them on Vessel (2013) and Blurryface (2015). If listeners had been questioning their impact on the more complex recent albums, "The Contract" skillfully arranges its whirling stream of hooks and vocal changes to take advantage of every stop as a means for another slightly steeper emotional peak.
As always with emotional music, anticipation is everything. The best feature of Breach is how well they can stitch together songs, that on paper, oppose each other. "Downstairs" takes all its time to heat up before finding its swelling, anthemic chorus.
Its follow-up, "Robot Voices," is a weird funky/punky turn into an almost 1975-ish love song ("I wasn't lookin' for love this year/But my robot told me that I shouldn't fear").
A little later on the 47-minute record, they jam together the glittery but sinuous future single "One Way" and the full-on Electropunk blast "Days Lie Dormant." To their credit, Twenty One Pilots squeeze every glimmering moment out of "One Way" before surprising you with the gear shift into "Dormant."
The transition is linked together with a phone message from a doubtful Josh Dun. However, it is these personal connections that make Breach work and hopefully hint at the development of a new pattern.
Weirdly, this is the right time to end the entire five-album rabbit hole series. Not because the duo is running low on ideas ("Garbage" is a Coldplay-ish misstep that is, to put it as they do, to "walk you through the numbers").
For once, they seem to derive more joy out of being a band and themselves ("Cottonwood" uses more Gothic melodies and a dynamite juxtaposition between "remember" and "condemn you"). So, if Dema and Clancy are truly in the rearview, Breach makes you glad that Tyler and Josh are driving fast "just to feel it, feel it."