Background
On May 17, 2015, Twenty One Pilots released their fourth studio album, Blurryface. The record topped the Billboard 200 and produced two top-five hits, "Stressed Out" and "Ride" on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number two and number five, respectively. The songs kicked the band into mainstream success in 2016, along with the single "Heathens" from the Suicide Squad soundtrack. From 2015 to 2017, the pair embarked on two world tours in support of the record. The band confirmed in an interview with Alternative Press that they would be "going dark" to concentrate on new music, adding that they would concentrate on the lyrical material and bring back the band's eponymous album's "authenticity, lyrics, delivery, and fearlessness of songwriting" The duo entered a year-long hiatus starting on July 6, 2017, following the five final dates of the band's tour, Tour De Columbus.
Album meaning
The album, Trench continues the band's discussion of vulnerability, religion, suicide, and mental health topics, popular themes on the previous albums of Twenty One Pilots. The album was formed around "Trench"'s universe, built by Tyler and represented through the music videos of the album. The city of 'Dema' is mentioned in much of the album and its marketing content. Dema is a fictional place set within the Trench, literally meaning "Tower of Silence" which originally comes from Zoroastrianism. Towers of silence were used in that religion to dispose of dead bodies by making vultures consume the corpses. On Reddit, the band clarified that they were influenced by the "sad and intriguing concept of a dying religion... the reason it was dying was something they could never control: The lack of the vultures needed to carry out their theology. Something so natural and logical can get in the way of your religion." Nico, one of Dema's nine "bishops" is named after Nicolas Bourbaki, the collective nickname of a group of mathematicians who are primarily French. Blurryface was a character who portrayed insecurity last record, and the more you think about those insecurities and the more you learn about that character, the more influence you would have over those stuff in your mental war game. With this record being a continuation of that, one of the things I knew I wanted to do was figure out the real name of Blurryface, Nicolas Bourbaki. Nine "bishops" whose names are Nico short for Nicolas Bourbaki, are based on a collective pseudonym of a group of mostly French mathematicians, Andre, Lisden, Keons, Reisdro, Sacarver, Nills, Vetomo, and Listo, govern the city of Trench, Dema. Blurryface, the personification of his insecurities from their previous album of the same name, was revealed by Joseph to be the Chief Bishop, Nico. The other characters involved are part of a group called the "Banditos" whose aim is to liberate Dema's citizens. They take on the colour yellow, which can not be seen by the bishops.
Songs
Like the previous albums of Twenty One Pilots, the album features many different music styles, including alternative rock, alternative hip hop, pop-rock, electronic rock, R&B, reggae, hip hop, electropop, rap-rock, and pop, with jazz elements. It opens with "Jumpsuit" an alternative and rough rock song, discussing the insecurities of Tyler Joseph. Rolling Stone described it as having "distorted bass guitar, crisp drumming and dark washes of synth" with the vocals of Joseph building from "a near-whisper to a full-throated scream, to an atmospheric falsetto." The outro of the song merges into a minimalist rap track, "Levitate", the next track. "Morph" a song about life and death includes references to the Bishops, artists such as Khalid, The Prodigy and DJ Shadow have been compared to the song. An indie pop song about staying faithful to a friend is the following track,
"My Blood". The track has been compared to songs such as "Pumped Up Kicks" and Portugal by Foster the People. A song about clearing the mind from dark thoughts is "Chlorine". "Smithereens" is a song about Joseph's love for his wife, Jenna, which he married in 2015, "cute and playful" The next song, "Neon Gravestones" is a "slow-burning" rap song that incorporates electronic drums over a piano riff as the song progresses. Lyrically, the song discusses suicide and its glorification and concludes with a plea to admire those who have gone through life, not those who have chosen an early grave. In
"The Hype" Tyler Joseph says in an interview with Coup de Main Magazine that the song is about the contrast between internal and external strain. A reggae-rap song about fighting the "bishops" is the next track, "Nico and the Niners," a theme found in "Doubt," a song from the previous album, denouncing their faith, "Vialism," and fleeing Dema. Even when times are tough, "Cut My Lip" is about the determination to persevere and also addresses Tyler's battle between keeping true to himself and giving into the music industry's demands. "Bandito", the following track, is a slow song that sees the protagonist embracing his position as part of a group of rebels, the Banditos. A song that combines rap, electro and rock, "Pet Cheetah" is a metaphor for the songwriting process and writer’s block. "Legend" is a tribute to Robert Joseph, Joseph's grandfather, who passed away on March 17, 2018. For the band's 2013 label-debut release, Vessel, he was featured on the right side of the album cover. Slightly restrained vocals, a powerful piano section, and light drumming are featured in the final track, "Leave the City"