The end of February brought the release of two-man band Twenty One Pilots’ newest single ‘Overcompensate’, the track which was released ahead of their newest album Clancy which drops on 17 May 2024.
There is a lot of nostalgia for fans of Twenty One Pilots, myself included, as the song calls back to songs from their 2018 album Trench. The song seems to act as a descendent of their track ‘Levitate’ with reference to “welcome back to trench” and also calls back to ‘Bandito’ using its bridge “I created this world / To feel some control / Destroy it if I want / So I sing Sahlo Folina” to fade into the new melody.
The song itself follows the same structure as a lot of their other songs, with the verse being rapped while the chorus is sung. Much like ‘Levitate’ however, the focus seems to be more on the spoken word, and similar to it being one of the introduction songs to Trench, it is one of the reasons I don’t believe ‘Overcompensate’ was the best way to set the precedent for the new album.
One of the things Twenty One Pilots is overwhelmingly famous for is their impressive use of the drums within their songs and ‘Overcompensate’ is no exception. Drummer Josh Dun continues to live up to my expectations. With this said, the song is not one to jump into my list of favourites, but the drumbeat is enough to get the song stuck in my head and have me wanting to listen to it on repeat.
The song begins another chapter in the deep lore that underpins the last three Twenty One Pilots albums, following fictional character Clancy as he escapes the gated community of ‘Dema’ with Josh Dun and the Banditos. ‘Overcompensate’ marks a seemingly successful attempt to escape unlike those made in previous albums as shown by lyrics “If you can’t see, I am Clancy, prodigal son / Done running, come up with Josh Dun, wanted dead or alive”. It’s the story as much as the song itself that makes ‘Overcompensate’ a particularly exciting release.
While I’d describe ‘Overcompensate’ as one of more middle-of-the-road Twenty One Pilots releases, the song isn’t one I will skip when it comes on in my playlist and is one that seems to grow on me with every listen. I still have high hopes for their newest album Clancy and am thrilled to be thrown even deeper into the lore of ‘Dema’ with every release.
Words by Ash Sutton
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