"Decoding 'The Contract': Twenty One Pilots' Latest Mind-Bender"

The Before

It’s been quite the ride recently being a Twenty One Pilots fan. On the second night of the London show, the clique were sent into a frenzy when Tyler changed up the formula. He didn't accept the jacket from Josh while tying his stole around his eyes for Doubt demo. What did all this mean? Well, at the time, none of us knew. Theories and speculations lit up on Twitter, Reddit, and Facebook like wildfire. Not only did the final day cause so much chaos online, but throughout the tour, Twenty One Pilots had a special fan event going on called The Fan Premier Exhibit. One exhibit, in particular, letters written by Dema citizens that featured Morse Code at the end of each letter. Dema is a fictional city on the continent of Trench created by Twenty One Pilots for those who don't follow the lore. Now I can’t decipher Morse code; I wouldn’t know where to start. Others did, thankfully, so at each city in the European leg came a new code. The same happened with the American leg. By the end, the word for the European leg finally became whole, and that word was Breach.

Was this a new track? A new album? No clue. So we pondered, thought and theorised. Then, on the 10th anniversary of Blurryface, the eye started to close, and their website began to desaturate. As the days went on, the eye started to close, and the website desaturated by 20% each day. Fans from the Blurryface era will remember that once that eye closed, the hiatus began before Trench launched in 2018. Nerves were high online. Yet on Wednesday, May 21st, the 4th anniversary of Scaled & Icy, came the announcement that their new full-length album, Breach, would be coming on September 5th, with the first song, The Contract, arriving on June 12th.

The clique went into a meltdown – two albums in two years; were we dreaming??

One question I’m sure a lot of us were pondering was, “Is this the end of the psychological torment we have all been facing these last couple of weeks?” 

The answer was a simple “No”. Appearing online came these grainy, sometimes reversed, sometimes slowed-down, black-and-white videos. Uploaded and quickly deleted from both the official Twenty One Pilots account and the Blurryface account on Twitter.

Eagle-eyed fans saved these videos and began decoding their meaning.

As the days ran down, countdown videos emerged, and anticipation grew for June 12th.

Then, the day arrived. The Contract was here.

The Video

Let’s talk about that video first. Kicking off with the cliffhanger ending from Clancy’s Paladin Strait music video, we entered a mind-bending world of Tyler and Josh, filled with glowing red eyes and the duo's faces fading into dust. What did this mean? I have so many questions. That’s the beauty of Twenty One Pilots. Answering one question, asking thousands more. Tyler once said that the entire Clancy World Tour was a flashback. I loved hearing that. This made us all feel like we were a part of the lore itself. As I previously stated, the last show changed the formula by Tyler not accepting the jacket from Josh. I could say what that might mean, but this review would go on all day, so all I’m going to say is the ending of the music video did touch on this. As the Torchbearer theme plays, Clancy is presented with the jacket; as he debates taking it, his eyes reopen to where we left off in the tower with Nico. The theories and speculations began, and I’m fully on board. Lore videos will always be my favourite from the duo, although I do love their non-lore videos too, looking at you, Holding Onto You and Lavish.

The Song

So what about the song itself? Well, if this is the opening track to the album, then it’s up there with one of the favourites. I’ve had it playing that much; I feel bad for my neighbours. Feeling very reminiscent of Heavydirtysoul in parts, the track is sharp and punchy with drum beats that feel more intense than ever. Tyler uses auto-tune in such a stylistic way that it will start to send shivers down your spine as you’re bombarded with lyrics that will be stuck in your head for days to come.

From their 2011 beginnings with Regional At Best, the duo have come a long way over these last 14 years, creating an entire world within their lore and delivering unforgettable shows that can't be beaten.

If this is just the start of Breach, I can’t wait to hear what comes next.

You can pre-order Breach now; it's out September 5th.

Stream The Contract here.

Breach artwork created by Brandon Rike