twenty one pilots' Tyler Joseph explains why Level Of Concern isn't on Scaled And Icy
Tyler Joseph has revealed why 2020 single Level Of Concern didn't make it onto the tracklist of twenty one pilots' new album Scaled And Icy.
While twenty one pilots' 2020 single Level Of Concern (and its Guinness World Record-breaking never-ending video) was one of the few good things to come out of lockdown, Tyler Joseph has explained exactly why it was left off the duo's recent sixth album Scaled And Icy.
Though the song undoubtedly would have fit perfectly as it feels similar to the likes of the (deceptively) upbeat-sounding Good Day and Saturday, the frontman tells Billboard that he chose to leave it off the record to mark the time it was released, and proudly keep it as a more standalone thing.
"For me, sonically, it probably would have fit," Tyler says. "But something I've learned kind of recently… when I would listen to older songs of mine, I used to feel awkward. 'I wish I could have done that differently… I would have recorded that differently…' But then recently, what I realised is the way for me to naturally get over that reaction is I realised, 'That song is a perfect representation of who I was at that moment.' So the idea of trying to nitpick things that have already been is such a waste of time. You can be proud that it is a timestamp of who you were.
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"Which is all to say that sonically it may have fit the record, but it meant more to me as a timestamp of something that was in between records, something quick on its feet," he adds. "What I'm proud of that song for is the ability, when the pandemic really started to take, to show the agility Josh [Dun, drums] and I have on a creative level: we can write, record and release a song quickly."
Indeed, this quick turnaround could even be a factor following Scaled And Icy, as Tyler told Kerrang! in May that he was working on even more new twenty one pilots music.
"Usually when we’re done working on a record I feel completely burnt out; I’ve put everything into it that I have, and I’m done with writing, done with music, for however long," he said. "And on this one, for some reason – maybe it’s because I know that we’re not going to go out and play shows – after finishing it, I didn’t feel that same burnt-out feeling. And I’ve actually continued to create, even after. I’m still writing and excited about music. I don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing… hopefully it’s just a good thing!"