"[7] Scaled and Icy was written and largely produced by Joseph in his home studio over a year-long period during the COVID-19 pandemic, while drummer Josh Dun engineered the drum tracks remotely.

[8][2] The band had initially planned on embarking on a "victory lap" tour of arenas and festivals to draw the album cycle for Trench to a close, but the pandemic had instead left them with more free time than they were accustomed to.

[10] Scaled and Icy is the first Twenty One Pilots album to involve Joseph's youngest brother, Jay, who provided backing vocals alongside five of his close friends on "Never Take It", "Bounce Man" and "No Chances".

[18] Scaled and Icy has been described as, "at first listen, the most upbeat and optimistic the band have sounded since they first emerged in 2009", which Joseph explained is a reaction against the "strange and bleak conditions" caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, during which the album was recorded.

[17] Neil Z. Yeung of AllMusic described the album as "a snapshot of the emotional highs and lows of quarantine life",[32] while Augusta Battoclette of Alternative Press noted the themes of "anxiety, doubt and the need to keep your loved ones close".

[38][39] The lead single "Shy Away" premiered on BBC Radio 1 on April 7, with a music video being released shortly after alongside an official album announcement on the band's social media.

[47] The show took place at Value City Arena in Columbus, Ohio, and its synopsis is very close-knit with the storyline from Trench, featuring numerous Easter eggs concerning the band's lore.

[47] The event garnered praise from various publications, including NME, who awarded it five stars, with Ali Shutler calling it "one of the most forward-thinking shows that've been attempted in over a year" which "sees them push the limit on just what a livestream can be".

[52] Ali Shutler of NME praised the album as "an expectation-crushing statement of ambition", noting its more optimistic and upbeat tone compared to the band's earlier work while still remaining "very much in the Twenty One Pilots universe".

[55] The Guardian's Rachel Aroesti also noted the "move away from this anxious melancholy"; she claimed that while fans would "view this shift as hard-won hopefulness", listeners unfamiliar with the band would find the album "pleasingly buoyant, if conspicuously USP-less".

[24] Steven Loftin of The Line of Best Fit commended the album's fun sound and the progression it represented for the band, concluding that "while it's not a home run, as a society it's a time for exploration and change, and the duo have pasted the pastel colours on heavy ready for when the sunshine decides to grace us with its presence".

[28] Writing for Stereogum, Chris DeVille opined that the album "maintains the knack for poppy off-kilter rock music that made the band stars in the first place" aside from "a few clunkers", and considered that it represented an evolution towards a more grown-up sound and image.

[57][54] Ludovic Hunter-Tilney was critical of the record's "contradictory tones" in his assessment for the Financial Times, arguing that "tracks are caught between servicing the concept and existing in their own right", and concluded that "the result suggests indecision, not an enigmatic layer of mystery".

[25] David Smyth of the Evening Standard also highlighted the contrast between the "bright and poppy" sound of the album and its conceptual promotion, asking: "Is it worth sticking around to hunt for secret messages though?

"[23] Conversely, AllMusic's Neil Z. Yeung wrote that "whether or not they decide to revive their ongoing album mythology, Scaled and Icy will remain a quick dose of TOP perfection, a lean catalog gem that is bright, effervescent, and immensely addictive.