In a yr already brimming with milestones, Twenty One Pilots are proving that their inventive momentum is much from slowing down. The GRAMMY-winning alt-rock powerhouses, beloved for his or her genre-bending soundscapes and immersive storytelling, have introduced their long-anticipated eighth studio album, ‘Breach,’ slated to drop in September 2025. As an exciting style of what’s to come back, the dynamic duo simply dropped the primary single, “The Contract,” and it’s every little thing longtime followers hoped for and extra.
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Stream: “The Contract” – Twenty One Pilots
Coming off a career-defining excessive, Tyler Joseph and Josh Dun have had fairly the 2025 already.
Between sweeping main wins on the American Music Awards (Favourite Rock Album and Favourite Rock Artist) and marking the 10-year anniversary of their genre-redefining album Blurryface, Twenty One Pilots are reminding the world precisely why they’re thought-about trendy rock icons. And with “The Contract,” they’re not simply revisiting previous glories, they’re hurtling right into a daring new chapter.
I examine the doorways, examine the home windows, and pull the blinds,
I examine the clock, questioning what he’ll pull this time,
I’ve a sense that necromancer’s outdoors,
And I’m simply attempting to remain quiet.
I don’t sleep a lot, that’s loopy, how’d you realize that?
Preserve myself up, that’s possibly how you realize that,
Guarantees and contracts I used to maintain,
I don’t sleep a lot, that’s loopy, how’d you realize that?
Preserve myself up, that’s possibly how you realize that,
My hallucination I used to see.
Launched June 12 by way of Fueled By Ramen, “The Contract” is quintessential Twenty One Pilots, but strikingly advanced. Co-written by Joseph alongside Paul Meany (Mutemath), genre-shaker Yungblud, and veteran producer Matt Schwartz, the monitor delivers layered manufacturing, experimental edge, and emotional rawness suddenly. Meany, who’s lengthy been a detailed collaborator of the band, shares producing credit with Joseph on this single, and their synergy exhibits. From eerie synth thrives to thunderous percussive builds, each second of “The Contract” pulses with function.
Tyler Joseph’s vocals are a examine in duality, shifting from introspective murmurs to full-throttle catharsis. Lyrically, the tune walks a tightrope between submission and riot, echoing the band’s long-standing themes of internal battle and id. There’s a haunting urgency in traces like “now I plead, simply take the deal / I promised you a contract,” capturing a way of entrapment that feels each private and metaphorical. The monitor appears to choose up proper the place their final musical universe left off, however with increased stakes and darker undertones.
Get up and I discover out, did a change up,
Wait — Did it change up?
Is it gentle out but?
Higher discover out. Wager,
Imma stroll across the fringe of the room,
And the mattress the place I cover my face,
Tempo round,
Higher attempt to breathe,
Tempo round, Tempo round.
(Sleep I discovered)
I wanna get on the market,
However I don’t attempt,
I wanna get on the market,
However I don’t attempt.
I used to see, it felt so actual,
However now I plead,
Simply take the deal,
I promised you a contract
Complementing the sonic drama is the surreal, cinematic music video directed by Frédéric De Pontcharra.
Followers of the band’s intricate lore might be thrilled; this can be a direct continuation of the narrative first explored in “Paladin Strait.” As Joseph and Dun carry out amid a nightmarish panorama of glowing-eyed creatures, there’s a palpable rigidity that crescendos when Dun solemnly arms Joseph a uniform. The picture, mirrored on the Breach album cowl, feels important, symbolic, and barely foreboding. It’s pure Twenty One Pilots: Cryptic, emotionally resonant, and steeped in mythos.
That visible symbolism isn’t unintentional. With Breach, Twenty One Pilots are usually not abandoning their previous, however fairly reshaping it. It’s a becoming transfer in a yr when Blurryface, the band’s breakout juggernaut, celebrates a decade of impression. That album modified the course of other music, turning into the primary in historical past to earn a Gold or Platinum certification for each monitor. Its success (over 15 billion streams and counting) was greater than business; it was cultural.
And but, “The Contract” doesn’t coast on nostalgia. As an alternative, it channels the fearless spirit that made Blurryface iconic, whereas delving into extra advanced emotional terrain. The songwriting is sharper, the manufacturing extra textured, and the narrative stakes extra cinematic than ever. If this single is any indication, Breach guarantees to be one of the band’s most bold tasks to this point.
“The Contract” goes past the bounds of a typical lead single; it’s a daring assertion of intent.
Performing because the prologue to what guarantees to be one other pivotal period for Twenty One Pilots, the monitor balances haunting depth with sparkles of hope, merging signature sounds with daring new textures. It’s a hanging instance of how a band can develop artistically whereas staying true to its essence. For longtime followers, it’s a gripping return to a well-known but evolving universe. For first-time listeners, it’s an undeniably compelling invitation into their world.
With Breach on the horizon, and “The Contract” setting the stage, Twenty One Pilots have made one factor clear: the signatures are on the road, and the long run is theirs.
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Stream: “The Contract” – Twenty One Pilots
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